Georgia Ranks Fourth in the Number of Untreated HIV Patients in the United States

/PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that despite being the ninth largest state, Georgia ranks fourth in the number of untreated HIV patients in the United States.

"HIV prevalence is linked to ethnic/racial demographics as well as to urban/rural variations -- Georgia's larger than average black population drives Georgia's high prevalence of HIV," stated Jason LaBonte, Ph.D., vice president of new product development at Decision Resources. "Our epidemiologic model predicts that eight out of 1,000 people in Georgia have the disease versus the national average of five out of 1,000."

The new analytics tool entitled PatientFinder: HIV estimates that this high prevalence is compounded by Georgia's lower than average treatment rate for the disease (ranked 28th in the United States) which leaves a large number of HIV patients without drug therapy. Despite the abundance of untreated patients, however, Georgia remains a difficult target for pharmaceutical companies wishing to grow their patient base. Only 82 percent of the state's population has prescription drug insurance, which ranks 37th in the U.S.

Why Pharmaceutical Companies Need this Information

With the type of information included in PatientFinder, pharmaceutical organizations can identify the local markets that offer the greatest opportunity for their branded drug. Companies can identify markets that are underserved and determine if they should increase direct-to-consumer advertising, work with the local managed care organizations to increase awareness of the disease and benefits of their drug or align sales representatives to maximize market potential.

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