Ryan:  "more focus on preventing"

MONTICELLO – Sullivan County Public health Nurse Carol Ryan remembers when she was in nursing school, HIV/AIDS was non-existent. Now, nurses coming into the field face it from day one.

The county joined counties around the region in marking World AIDS Day Monday.

Sullivan Continues to have the highest rate of AIDS in the state outside the City of New York. And, Ryan told an AIDS commemoration event more must be done.

“We’ve got to put a lot more of our focus on preventing further cases of HIV because it is a totally preventative disease; we don’t have to live with HIV/AIDS,” she said. “So, while we should be putting a lot of focus on developing cures, giving the best treatment for those who are infected, let’s put equal if not more focus on preventing future cases,” she told those present.

Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, a registered nurse, said the county has come a long way in fighting the disease, more must be done to flight the global epidemic.