HIV/AIDS Among
African-Americans
African-Americans represent only 13 percent of
the total U.S. population, but made up nearly half (47 percent) of all new AIDS
cases reported in the
- African-Americans
are estimated to make up more than 40 percent of the annual new HIV
infections:
–
60 percent of all infections in women in
2006
–
36 percent of all infections in men in 2006
–
42 percent of all total infections in 2006
- In
2002, AIDS was the second leading cause of death for African-Americans age
35-44.
- Researchers
estimate that one in 50 African-American men and one in 60
African-American women are infected with HIV.
In 2006, more African-Americans were reported
with AIDS than any other racial group:
- 18,697
(48 percent) of the 38,915 new AIDS cases reported that year were among
African-Americans
- Almost
two-thirds (64 percent) of all women reported with AIDS in 2006 were
African-American
- The
rate of reported AIDS cases among African-Americans was 60 per 100,000
population, nearly three times the rate for Hispanics and nearly 10 times
greater than the rate for whites.
HIV/AIDS is spreading especially fast among
African-American men
- Thirty-two
percent of African-American men who have sex with men (MSM) were found to
be infected with HIV in a six-city study of men ages 23-29, compared to 14
percent of Latinos and seven percent of whites in the study.
- African-American
men who have sex with men are at two to three times higher risk for HIV
infection than white MSM. This may be because cultural bias causes a
disproportionate number of African-American men to resist identifying as
gay or bisexual and, therefore, not take precautions.
Sources:
AIDS ACTION, “Communities of Color and HIV/AIDS”
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Surveillance
Report, Vol. 18
CDC, “Basic Statistics,”
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/stats.htm