A Region In Crisis

Chlamydia, gonorrhea, obesity, poverty, teen pregnancy and HIV have the highest rates in one state: Mississippi.

Lisa Biagiotti, an independent journalist and filmmaker, recently finished production of the documentary, “Deepsouth.” The documentary explores the HIV epidemic in the rural American South.

“I discovered that HIV in the South is really symptomatic of a fragile place with broken social infrastructure,” said Biagiotti in an interview for the Oxford American. “We also cover some really sensitive topics in this film: molestation, rape, homophobia, poverty, slavery, race, religion, education, and rural America.”

Biagiotti’s experiences, research and an interview with an infectious-disease doctor in Mississippi led her to conclude that HIV in the South is more than a disease. It’s a social illness. 

“He had to worry about whether his patients had transportation, electricity, and a stable home environment to actually take the drugs,” she said. “It’s the same virus, but HIV is a different disease in the South, therefore the lessons of the last thirty years and successes in urban areas cannot be replicated in a place where culture and society are so different.”

According to Biagiotti, the drastically high rates of HIV, STDs, obesity and teen pregnancy all stem from one primary issue: poverty.

Poverty is the root of many issues in the rural South. Without proper funding for schools, students are deprived of a proper education, especially sex education. 

In addition to poverty, laws in Mississippi require students to learn abstinence-based sex education, which is why so many teens, clueless about the consequences of unprotected sex, end up pregnant or with STDs. 

In some districts, using terms like “condom” is a fireable offense.