Suzy S's blog

In a Monday afternoon session called, “Hurricane Katrina – Surveillance Under Emergency Conditions,” Beth Scalco and others from the Louisiana Office of Public Health HIV/AIDS Program in New Orleans told the story of how everything collapsed after the storm, including their capacity to get people their medication, gather information about the local epidemic, and do prevention outreach. Several hundred thousand homes were destroyed, leaving countless people homeless. Since August 2005, the city’s population has dropped from 462,000 to 200,000.

“Some neighborhoods aren’t there anymore,” Scalco said. “Before, we could say, ‘This is the neighborhood where people are at high risk for HIV.’ Now, that neighborhood is gone.”
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