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National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Feb 7, 2007
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February 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) - a nation-wide community mobilization initiative that leads to capacity building to increase awareness, participation, and support for HIV prevention among African Americans.
The primary goal of NBHAAD is to motivate African Americans to get tested and know their HIV status; get educated about HIV/AIDS; get involved in their local community; and get treated if they are currently living with HIV or are newly diagnosed. Since 2001, federal, state, and local governmental agencies, community-based organizations, AIDS service organizations, public and private partners in prevention, treatment and care, as well as partners in the business, entertainment, and faith communities have all joined together in support of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
You can help prevent HIV in Black communities, one voice, one experience, one conversation at a time! Register, and order supplies for your event at www.blackaidsday.org.
Of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, HIV and AIDS have hit African Americans the hardest. The reasons are not directly related to race or ethnicity, but rather to some of the barriers faced by many African Americans. These barriers can include poverty (being poor), 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. Even though African Americans account for about 13% of the US population, they account for about half (49%) of the people who get HIV and AIDS.
- Shorter survival times. African Americans with AIDS often don't live as long as people of other races and ethnic groups with AIDS. This is due to the barriers mentioned above.
- More deaths. For African Americans, HIV/AIDS is a leading cause of death.
HIV/AIDS in 2005
- According to the 2000 census, African Americans make up approximately 13% of the US population. However, in 2005, African Americans accounted for 18,510 (49%) of the estimated 38,096 new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the United States in the 33 states with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting [2
Updated CDC Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS among African Americans.....
- Of all African American men living with HIV/AIDS, the primary transmission category was sexual contact with other men, followed by injection drug use and high-risk heterosexual contact [2].
- Of all African American women living with HIV/AIDS, the primary transmission category was high-risk heterosexual contact, followed by injection drug use [2].
- Of the estimated 141 infants perinatally infected with HIV, 91 (65%) were African American (CDC, HIV/AIDS Reporting System, unpublished data, December 2006).
- Of the estimated 18,849 people under the age of 25 whose diagnosis of HIV/AIDS was made during 2001-2004 in the 33 states with HIV reporting, 11,554 (61%) were African American [3].
New MMWR: HIV/AIDS Diagnoses Among Blacks --- Florida, 1999- 2004......
In Florida, as in most of the United States (1), HIV/AIDS rates are higher among blacks than among any other racial/ethnic population.
In 2004, Florida accounted for 11% of the total number of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) cases in the United States, ranking third behind New York and California. Florida also had the second-highest reported AIDS diagnosis rate (behind New York) (1). During 2004, non-Hispanic blacks* accounted for 14% of the Florida population but 52% of the 77,421 persons in Florida living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS. This report describes trends in diagnoses of HIV/AIDS cases that occurred among blacks during 1999--2004 and were reported to the Florida Department of Health. These data indicate that, during 1999--2004, the annual rate of HIV/AIDS diagnosis among blacks decreased more than the rates among other racial/ethnic groups. To examine possible explanations for this decline, HIV/AIDS diagnosis rate trends were compared with trends in gonorrhea diagnosis and publicly funded HIV testing in Florida. The results indicated that gonorrhea diagnosis rates also decreased among blacks in Florida during 1999--2004, whereas the number of HIV tests increased. These findings suggest that HIV/AIDS diagnoses in blacks might be associated with a reduction in high-risk sexual behavior and that the decline was not the result of less testing.
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