Report: 6K Long Islanders live with HIV, 18K more in Queens

<p>The number of people living with HIV in New York is now at 130,000, more than 6,000 of them on Long Island, according to newly released data from North Shore University Hospital.</p>

News 12 Staff

•

Apr 26, 2018, 6:49 PM

•

Updated 2,436 days ago

The number of people living with HIV in New York is now at 130,000, more than 6,000 of them on Long Island, according to newly released data from North Shore University Hospital.

In Queens, there are 18,000.

Dr. Joseph McGowan is calling for more testing and more treatment.

"Our goal in New York state is to end the epidemic by 2020," he says.

The hospital has released a smartphone app to help people keep track of their medication, upcoming appointments and blood work results.

Jeffrey Kemp is one of the 6,810 Long Islanders who have HIV.

"Listening to those numbers, it kind of just brought me back to feeling like a statistic," he says.

Kemp went to North Shore University Hospital's Center of AIDS Research and Treatment, where he says he has gotten his condition under control and improved his spirits.

"Every single time I come in here, I don't feel like that," he says. "I feel like a person that matters. I feel like a person that has something to offer to a community."