Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a chronic viral infection that attacks the immune system and without treatment can lead to AIDS. In Tennessee, hundreds of people are diagnosed with HIV each year, with higher rates in urban counties and in parts of West and Middle Tennessee.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a bloodborne infection that can cause chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer if untreated. In Tennessee, HCV has increased over the past decade, particularly in communities affected by injection drug use, and continues to be a major cause of preventable morbidity.
Drug overdoses are a leading cause of injury-related death in Tennessee and are closely linked to the evolving opioid and polysubstance use crisis. Overdose deaths and nonfatal overdoses affect both rural and urban communities, with some of the highest rates in Appalachian and other economically distressed counties.
HIV, HCV, and drug overdose form an interrelated syndemic in Tennessee, driven by shared social and structural conditions such as poverty, stigma, housing instability, and limited access to harm reduction and treatment. These overlapping epidemics amplify one another, so that communities heavily affected by one are often at elevated risk for the others.