The reasons that African Americans have been hit hard by this pandemic are not directly related to race or ethnicity, but rather to some of the barriers faced by many African Americans. These barriers can include, sexually transmitted diseases, and stigma (negative attitudes, beliefs, and actions directed at people living with HIV/AIDS or directed at people who do things that might put them at risk for HIV).
When we look at HIV/AIDS by race and ethnicity, we see that African Americans have:
More illness.
Shorter survival times.
More deaths.
For African American men, the most common ways of getting HIV are (in order):1. having unprotected sex with another man who has HIV
2. sharing injection drug works (like needles or syringes) with someone who has HIV
3. having unprotected sex with a woman who has HIV
For African American women, the most common ways of getting HIV are (in order):
1. having unprotected sex with a man who has HIV
2. sharing injection drug works (like needles or syringes) with someone who has HIV
The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American adults and adolescents was 10 times the rate for whites and almost three times the rate for Hispanics. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American women was 23 times the rate for white women. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American men was eight times the rate for white men. The 178,233 African Americans living with AIDS in the United States accounted for 43 percent of all people in the United States living with AIDS.
African American females are especially hard hit by HIV/AIDS. During 2001-2004, African American women accounted for 68 percent of HIV/AIDS diagnoses for women in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting. More than three-fourths of the HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed for African American women during 2001-2004 were caused by heterosexual contact. Injection drug use accounted for almost one fifth of the cases.
HIV/AIDS is a disease that continues to take its toll on the African American community and denial is no longer a viable option. Getting tested and knowing your status and that of your partner could be a life and death decision.
For information contact www.cdc.gov and for information on testing and counseling please contact the Owens-Franklin Health Center at extension 2511 or the City of Houston Department of Health and Human Services at (713) 794-9640.