Mar 11, 2017 2 min read

It can be argued we’ve learned to live with AIDS.

It’s been close to 36 years since the disease first entered the public consciousness, so it doesn’t really qualify as news anymore. Moreover, there has been real progress made in the fight against it. A 2015 report from UNAIDS, the anti-HIV agency of the United Nations, found that AIDS-related deaths had declined worldwide by 41 percent over a 10-year period, and the number of new infections had decreased by 24 percent. The number of infections has been going down because efforts to educate and increase awareness have been effective, particularly when it comes to getting people to practice safe sex, while fatalities have been on the decline due to drug treatments that extend life and lower the risk of infecting others.

But HIV/AIDS is not a closed book and not something that happens elsewhere. There are individuals in Washington and Greene counties, and throughout the region, who are dealing with HIV/AIDS who need help and deserve compassion.

That being the case, we welcome the opening of an HIV/AIDS clinic in Washington. As this newspaper reported Thursday, Central Outreach Wellness Center South has opened adjacent to Washington Hospital at 95 Leonard Ave. It’s open Wednesdays and Thursdays or by appointment, with walk-ins also accepted.

The Washington area used to have a clinic that treated sexually transmitted diseases until it shuttered last year. Central Outreach Wellness Center is a satellite office for a facility that shares its name – minus the “South,” of course – on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. It was launched by Stacy Lane, a Washington & Jefferson College graduate and doctor, who told our Rick Shrum there has been a need for a facility in Washington since some patients were driving from communities in Washington County to the North Shore, and some even traveling from West Virginia.

As with clinics that have set up shop throughout the region to combat the opioid epidemic, we will welcome the day when Central Wellness Center South closes its doors – because it’s no longer needed.