FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Several community stakeholders held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss HIV and aids prevention after 17 Fulton County board of health workers were laid off due to federal cuts.

“I do believe we have one voice,” Pastor Will Francis said. “It shouldn’t be anything that I’m saying from my pulpit on Sunday morning that someone on the street shouldn’t be saying about these cuts.”

According to health data from 2022, Fulton was one of the counties with the highest rate of new HIV infections across the United States.

The meeting was organized by Pastor Francis. Organizers plan to meet again in the near future.