HIV/AIDS among Latinas/os

 

Latinas/os account for only 13 percent of the U.S. population, but represent a disproportionate percentage of the HIV/AIDS cases

o       Latinas/os account for 19 percent of cumulative AIDS cases.  

 

  • In 2006, Latinas/os accounted for 20 percent of new AIDS cases reported that year (7,879 of 38,915 cases).

 

  • In 2006, the Latina/o incidence rate per 100,000 population was 15.6, three times the rate for whites.

 

Latino men account for 19 percent of cumulative AIDS cases among men in the United States

o       Males account for the largest proportion (80 percent) of cumulative AIDS cases reported among Latinos.

 

  • From the beginning of the epidemic in 1981 through December 2006, 149,019 Latino men have been reported with AIDS in the United States.  Of these:

-         44 percent were due to having sex with other men

-         33 percent were related to injection drug use

-         seven percent were among men who had sex with men and used injection drugs

 

Latina women account for 19 percent of cumulative AIDS cases among women in the United States

o       Of the cumulative AIDS cases among Latina women: 

-    49 percent are attributed to heterosexual contact

-         35 percent are related to injection drug use

 

  • The rate of AIDS among Latina women is growing:

-         Latina women account for 20 percent of the cumulative AIDS cases among the Latino population, but in 2006 they represented 23 percent of the reported Latino cases.

 

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Surveillance Report, Vol. 18