In Atlanta, Breaking Down Barriers To Timely HIV Care

Close to 40,000 new individuals receive HIV diagnoses each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NIRANJAN SHRESTHA / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Like any good millennial, Mahlon Randolph spends a lot of time on his smartphone. And when a little red notification bubble pops up on his screen, he pays attention.

“I’ll be like: ‘What’s that in there?,’” Randolph said on a recent weekday morning, sitting on a couch in his apartment in Decatur. “Then I’m like: ‘Oh, I gotta take my medicine.’”

That medicine is an antiretroviral drug called Biktarvy, and Randolph takes it to reduce the amount of HIV in his blood. He tested positive for the virus in 2014 when he was in college.