Long Islanders With HIV Mostly Live In 'Hot Spot' Areas

There are 6,810 people who are HIV-positive living on Long Island, most of whom reside in "hot spot" areas, Northwell Health officials from Center for AIDS Research and Treatment (CART) announced on Friday.

Local HIV and other sexually transmitted "hot spot" areas were identified as Hempstead, Westbury and Huntington Station, says Joseph McGowan, MD, a CART medical director and professor at Northwell’s Center for Health Innovations and Outcomes Research at the Feinstein Institute.

Another 1,000 Long Island residents living with HIV remain undiagnosed, CART estimates.

In total, about 130,000 people are living with HIV in New York State, data shows. The "hot spot" areas in Queens, which has 18,000 HIV-positive residents, were identified as Rosedale and the surrounding areas in Eastern Queens.

CART discovered these "hot spots" through an extensive survey and customized web-based software, known as RED Cap.

“The software enables us to query, collect and analyze information regarding mental health issues, substance use, housing status and other social issues,” McGowan said at a press conference. “We’ve linked that to levels of treatment compliance, adherence to appointments and viral suppression rates."

Jeffrey Kemp, 35, a longtime Long Island resident who has been living with HIV for 15 years, announced at the press conference he is stable and for the first time has an undetectable viral load after working with CART. He also uses the GET! app to stay on track with doctor appointments, medication reminders and lab results, calling it a "lifesaver."

The CART team has outlined several ways to lead interventions in these communities, including encouraging residents to get tested for the virus. A new collaboration with Walgreens offers a free, regular HIV-testing using Northwell’s mobile health van. They also look to educate women in high-risk neighborhoods and recruit members of these communities to help spread the message.

"We are working with community leaders to determine how to reach those affected and ways to engage them in care," McGowan said. "We must work together to remove barriers to care.”

Image via Northwell Health: Participating at the news conference at North Shore University Hospital was CART’s medical director Dr. Joseph McGowan, Jessica Clark, the center’s community mobilization coordinator, and Jeffrey Kemp, a patient at CART.