BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A report to be released in Birmingham says HIV has taken hold in the Deep South, plaguing some of the poorest people in the country and creating a health disaster.

The report by the Southern AIDS Coalition is set to be released Monday.

It says federal funding to fight HIV/AIDS and support those infected is concentrated disproportionately in wealthy parts of the country.

The report says that the number of deaths from AIDS in the rest of the nation dropped between 2001 and 2005, but rose in the South for that period.

The report says the South has more new HIV cases than any other region but ranks last of four regions in overall federal funding.

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Information from: The Birmingham News, http://www.al.com/birminghamnews

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