Atlanta LGBTQ advocates are celebrating the opening of a new HIV-care clinic. The clinic also offers broader sexual health care and social-support services geared to its patient population of mostly Black gay men.
Georgia has among the highest rates of HIV infection in the nation, ranking fourth for the total number of new diagnoses of HIV infection behind Florida, California, and Texas, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The majority of Georgia cases are among men who have sex with men, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported. And Black men accounted for nearly 71% of the state’s HIV diagnoses in 2021.
Among the factors behind Georgia’s longstanding HIV disparities, said Alvan Quamina, CEO and executive director of the nonprofit organization NAESM, are barriers to timely prevention and treatment, comprehensive health care and health insurance.
The group’s new Total Life Care Center clinic is designed to be a one-stop location that offers HIV care, PrEP and prevention and testing services for sexually transmitted infections, along with assistance with housing, health insurance and other patient needs.
“Who we want to serve here are folks that don’t have those resources, that need to be held particularly closely, that may feel uncomfortable in mainstream services, and so being able to provide that to 500 to 800 patients, we think, is really important,” Quamina said.
The Total Life Care Center clinic is located on 14th St. NW in Atlanta. The program also currently sees a large number of Black women patients who come for HIV and STI testing.
“But overwhelmingly, who we target, who we prioritize, who we were created for are Black gay, bisexual, same-gender loving men. And because we reflect that population we really are a home for them, a medical home for them, and a social service home for them,” Quamina said. “They don’t have to…
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