Teneika Carlisle
Current Issues/HIV infection MULT 171 (Web 92100)
May 23, 2010
HIV/AIDS in the African American Community
The African American Community is facing a major health crisis called HIV/AIDS. This disease has become a pandemic in the African American Community. South Africa alone has 5.7 million people living with HIV and AIDS in 2009, more than any other country. Almost one-in-three women aged 25-29, and over a quarter of men aged 30-34, are living with HIV (Human Sciences Research Council, 2009). Although African Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population, they accounted for half of the new HIV infections reported in 2001. Research shows that many new infections occur among young African Americans. This paper will use information from research to show why this disease has plagued the African American Community, and what is being done to thwart the pandemic.
HIV/AIDS has become a major health problem in the African American Community, where men and women of any age and sexual orientation are affected. In 2007 Blacks accounted for 49% of the estimated 35,962 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Studies show the following (Brown, 2003):
African American men account for forty three percent of HIV cases reported among men in 2001. Thirty two percent of African American men who have sex with men were found to be infected with HIV in a recent multi-city study of men ages 23 to 29 years, compared to fourteen percent of Latinos and seven percent of whites in the study.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the leading cause of HIV infection among African American men is sexual contact with other men, followed by injection drug use and heterosexual contact (Brown, 2003). Amongst African American women:
…they accounted for almost sixty four percent of HIV 1 cases reported among women in 2001. The rate of HIV infection among African American women, ages 20 to 44, in
References: Brown, G. (2003). HIV/AIDS among African Americans and US women: minority and young women. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from website: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MJV/is_4_10/ai_n6138580/ CDC (2003). HIV/AIDS among African Americans and US women: minority and young women. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from website: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MJV/is_4_10/ai_n6138580/ HIV/AIDS among African Americans. (2009). Retrieved May 2, 2010, from website: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/resources/factsheets/aa.htm HIV and African Americans. (2010). Retrieved May 2, 2010, from website: http://www.avert.org/hiv-african-americans.htm Human Sciences Research Council (2009). HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from website: http://www.avert.org/aidssouthafrica.htm U.S. National Institute of Health. (2010). Retrieved May 2, 2010, from website: http://www.avert.org/hiv-african-americans.htm