Inside the Beltway Thinking on AIDS

More than 5,500 individuals in Prince George's County, Maryland are infected with HIV/AIDS, according to a study of AIDs in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, released this week (pdf). Of those, more than 600 are not receiving treatment. The study, which blamed a lack of a coordinated response to the spread of the virus, prompted suburban officials to step up diagnosis and treatment, and promote awareness in schools, as has been done in D.C.

The study didn't focus on Prince George's--it had the same advice for all the Washington burbs, which harbor 46 percent of those in Metro D.C. area. But let's stick for a moment with Prince George's, which is home to nearly a million people in 10 cities, 17 towns, and more than 50 unincorporated areas. Comparing this glut of community types, governing bodies, school districts and legal jurisdcitions to D.C.'s unified hierarchy is not even "comparing apples and oranges," as Dale Schacherer, program manager for HIV client services in neighboring Montgomery County, called it. It's comparing one apple tree to a field of grapes.

The study, funded by the Washington AIDS Partnership, is a followup to a 2005 survey of Washington itself, which proved a critical tool in fighting infection rates in the city. "We were able to provide a blueprint for action," says the partnership's executive director, Channing Wickham. But one blueprint won't serve all of Prince George's County, much less the six counties and four cities that surround our nation's capital.

Photo by wyfurasko