African Americans and AIDS

Today is December 1st...World AIDS Day. Had it not been for the numerous blogs I read, I think the day may have been forgotten.  It is easy to get caught in the daily "hustle and bustle of life."Although I have an important exam, I figure I'd take the type out to write a quick post, because many people are living with Aids every single day, so most people can at least take a day out to acknowledge the PANDEMIC that Aids currently is. As the graphic says, AIDS has seriously become an "Out of Sight...Out of mind" disease which is extremely problematic. 

By now most people know the basics, it's a retrovirus, etc, etc. (Even did a boring group presentation on it last month), but I wanted to just remind people of the current Epidemiology of Aids, specifically when it comes to the African American community. 

Below I have lots of facts/news from the CDC on AIDS and the African American community! Please read, spread the knowledge and remember that almost half of the people living with AIDS in the US are black, and it is not just "isolated incidents" and that it could just as easily be us or someone we know.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in African American communities is a continuing public health crisis for the United States. At the end of 2006 there were an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV infection, of which almost half (46%) were black/African American [1]. While blacks represent approximately 12 percent of the U.S. population, they continue to account for a higher proportion of cases at all stages of HIV/AIDS—from infection with HIV to death with AIDS—compared with members of other races and ethnicities [2, 3].

The Numbers

HIV/AIDS in 2007

• Blacks accounted for 51% of the 42, 655 (including children) new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 34 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting [3].
• Blacks accounted for 48% of the 551,932 persons* (including children) living with HIV/AIDS in 34 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting [3].
• For black women living with HIV/AIDS, the most common methods of transmission were high-risk heterosexual contact** and injection drug use [3].
• For black men living with HIV/AIDS, the most common methods of HIV transmission were (in order) [3]:
• sexual contact with other men
• injection drug use
• high-risk heterosexual contact**.

Race/ethnicity of persons (including children) with HIV/AIDS diagnosed during 2007

Note. Based on data from 34 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting.

AIDS in 2007

• Blacks accounted for 49% of the estimated 35,962 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia [3].
• In 2007, the rates of AIDS diagnoses decreased among blacks but were still higher than the rates of any other race/ethnicity. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black adults/adolescents were 10 times the rate for whites and nearly 3 times the rate for Hispanics. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black women was 22 times the rate for white women. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black men was almost 8 times the rate for white men [3].
• Blacks accounted for 44% of the 455,636* people living with AIDS in the 50 states and District of Columbia [3].
• By the end of 2007, 40% of the 562,793* persons with AIDS who died were black [3].

Prevention Challenges

Like other communities, African Americans face a number of risk factors that contribute to the high rates of HIV infection:

• Sexual risk factors include high-risk sexual contact such as unprotected sex with multiple partners or unprotected sex with persons known to have or be at a high risk for HIV infection. People may be unaware of their partner’s sexual risk factors or have incorrectly assessed them.
• Injection drug use may add to the higher rates of infection for African Americans. In addition to being at risk from sharing unclean needles, causal and chronic illegal substance users may be more likely to engage in unprotected sex under the influence of illegal drugs and/or alcohol [4].
• Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) continue to be experienced at higher rates within the African American community, more so than any other race/ethnicity in the United States. The presence of certain STDs can significantly increase one’s chances of contracting HIV infection. A person who has both HIV infection and certain STDs has a greater chance of spreading HIV infection to others [5].
• Lack of awareness of HIV serostatus is risky for African American men and women. In a recent study of men who have sex with men (MSM) in five cities, 46% of the black MSM were HIV-positive and 67% of those men were unaware of their infection [6].
• Stigma, a “negative social label that identifies people as deviant”, [7] also puts too many African American communities at a high risk of infection. Any behavior deemed deviant (i.e. MSM) has been highly stigmatized. Many at risk for HIV infection fear stigma more than knowing their status, choosing instead to hide their high-risk behavior rather than seek counseling and testing. Therefore they continue to be at risk and may infect others [8].
• The socioeconomic issues associated with poverty, including limited access to high quality healthcare, housing and HIV prevention education may directly or indirectly increase the risk factors for HIV infection [9].

Until Next Time...