Care For HIV Patients Outpacing Peer Programs Nationwide | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post was originally created by ECU News Services.

    The HIV Program operated out of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University is outpacing peer programs nationwide in keeping patients healthier and limiting the spread of HIV.

    Brody's program is the primary provider for HIV care in 15 counties across eastern North Carolina. In that area, an estimated 1,400 people have been diagnosed as living with HIV.

    The goal of health care providers is to increase the number of those individuals who are "viral load suppressed," meaning they have an undetectable amount of the HIV virus in their blood and are less likely to transmit the disease.

    An estimated 81 percent of the HIV patient population treated at ECU was virally suppressed in a data collection period from 2013-2014. That compares to an average of 73 percent of patients virally suppressed in peer programs nationwide.

    Additionally, approximately 98 percent of patients participating in new HIV care programs at Brody are virally suppressed, according to Dr. Diane Campbell, who directs the ECU HIV Program.

    These efforts are supported by three Ryan White grants totaling over $1.4 million, awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide care for people who do not have sufficient health care coverage or financial resources to cope with HIV.