National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, was established to encourage more blacks to be tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and to educate the black community regarding the importance of HIV prevention, early detection, and treatment.
Although blacks represent only 13% of the U.S. population, they are the racial/ethnic group most affected by HIV, accounting for 49% of new HIV diagnoses and 50% of new diagnoses of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
In March 2007, the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) launched A Heightened National Response to the HIV/AIDS Crisis among African Americans, with the goal of working with community partners to intensify HIV-prevention measures by:
1) expanding the reach of prevention programs;
2) increasing opportunities for HIV testing, including encouraging more blacks to know their HIV serostatus;
3) developing effective prevention strategies; and
4) mobilizing broader community action.
While these statistics paint a bleak picture, being of black race or black ethnicity is not in itself a risk factor for HIV. However, some African Americans face challenges that may place them at an increased risk of contracting HIV, including socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and stigma; high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs); substance use; and less access to medical care.
Prompt and early diagnosis of HIV is a critical step in dealing with the crisis within the black community. CDC recommends that all Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested for HIV as a routine part of medical care. Being tested for HIV is important since people who are unaware of their infection are estimated to account for up to 70 percent of all new sexually transmitted HIV infections each year. Once diagnosed, those living with HIV can fully benefit from available life-saving treatments. They can also take steps to protect their partners and protect their community.
To reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in the black community, CDC conducts research and programs for HIV prevention that include partnering with community leaders and organizations to mobilize against HIV/AIDS, expanding the reach of effective HIV-prevention programs, conducting the Minority AIDS Research Initiative, and implementing social marketing campaigns emphasizing the importance of HIV testing.
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Stop Slandering Black Women with the AIDS Epidemic
By Robert N. Taylor
Over the past three or so years, there has been a deliberate attempt to manipulate figures in such a manner as to increasingly portray the AIDS epidemic as a “Black” disease. This attempt has centered primarily on African American women and involves on one hand taking HIV/AIDS statistics out of context and on the other hand remaining silent about other numbers.
The purpose of this slander has been to remove any stigma attached to the disease from the male homosexual community and place it on Blacks in general and Black women in particular. I first became suspicious when I increasingly saw reports of a dramatic rise in the HIV infections among Black heterosexual women but there was no corresponding dramatic rise among Black heterosexual men.
How could this be? If Black women were being increasingly infected with HIV/AIDS who was infecting them, especially since the rate of infection among intravenous drug users was actually declining.
Here are the facts. HIV/AIDS infections in America still overwhelmingly occur in the male homosexual and bisexual community. That was the conclusion of the international experts who met in Mexico in August for the 17th International AIDS Conference.
In addition, the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in mid-September released its most detailed Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on AIDS in America. That report showed that the most AIDS infected group in America was young Black gay and bisexual males (aged 13 to 29). They were followed by white gay males in their 30s and 40s and then Hispanic gay males. The CDC refers to these groups as “men who have sex with men.”
Black females were actually the fourth most AIDS infected group. This does not mean that Black women are out of the woods. They are still 14 times more likely to be AIDS infected than white women. But the AIDS infection rate among white women is so low that being 14 times as infected as they are does not mean that Black females in America are about to be wiped out by AIDS as some of the news reports have suggested.
The most recent CDC report is clear that roughly 73 percent of new AIDS infections took place among males – overwhelmingly “men who have sex with men.” Now, within that 73 percent, a disproportionate number are young Black gay males. Indeed, that is the group we most need to be concerned about because they are 1.6 times more likely to be AIDS infected than white gay males. In fact, the CDC referred to the AIDS infection rate among Black males aged 13 to 29 as “alarming.”
Why is this? Does it relate to the “alarming” number of young Black males being incarcerated? Does it relate to the “alarming” number of young Black males growing up without fathers? Regardless of the reasons, the problem cannot be properly addressed by attempting to slander Black women. In so doing, you fail to focus on where the problem really lies and end up hurting everyone.
[Robert Taylor is a veteran journalist and researcher who writes of social and self-help topics.