Southern states were also home to 41 percent of people living with AIDS in the U.S., reports the Southern AIDS Coalition, a group of HIV/AIDS activists working to increase funding for prevention and treatment options.

The coalition attributes the South's disproportionate share of HIV/AIDS cases to rising infection rates coupled with inadequate funding and resources that have had a disastrous impact on health care systems.

And among those Southern states most affected, Florida ranks at the top with a total of 35,723 people infected with HIV and 46,663 people living with AIDS, the report said.

Despite local prevention efforts, the numbers of new HIV cases in Manatee County continue to rise, said Brenden Williams of Manatee County Health Department.

From January through May, 23 new cases of HIV infection were identified as opposed to 20 cases in the same period a year ago, Williams said.

Yet Manatee's ranking among Florida counties has shifted downward in the past year from 13th in both AIDS and HIV infections. Manatee now ranks 21st in the number of HIV cases and 25th in the number of AIDS cases.

"The fact that Manatee County is down could be because other counties are up," Williams said.

The coalition was formed in 2002 in response to the first Southern States Manifesto, which described the disproportionate impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the South.

The Southern States Manifesto 2008 Update released Monday says little has changed in the past six years.

"Throughout the rest of the country from 2001 through 2005, the number of deaths from AIDS decreased, but continued to rise in the South," the coalition's Manifesto report said.

The report sets the following goals to be achieved in the next five years:

1. To reduce the number of HIV infections in the South by 25 percent.

2. Reduce late-term AIDS diagnosis by 25 percent.

3. Implement CDC testing recommendations through the South.

4. Increase the number of persons aware of their HIV, sexually transmitted disease or hepatitis infections.

5. Improve health outcomes for those infected.

6. Increase sex education efforts.

7. Advocate for increased state funding for prevention and treatment programs.

8. Advocate for increased federal funding.

Florida health officials tested more than 300,000 people for HIV/AIDS in 2007, marking a 43 percent increase over eight years in the number of people tested in a given year, but screening remains a top priority as HIV infections continue to spread.

Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be reached at 745-7049.

HIV/AIDS in the South

• 117,840 people living with HIV

• 177,613 people living with AIDS

Numbers are estimates for Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Lousiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia.

SOURCE: Southern States Manifesto: Update 2008, The Southern AIDS Coalition