| 185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS, with 24-27% undiagnosed and unaware of their HIV infection. In 2005, blacks (including African Americans), who make up approximately 12% of the US population, accounted for almost half of the estimated number of HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed. AIDS is the number-one killer of black women between the ages of 25 and 34, and black women are the fastest-growing group of new AIDS cases, representing 67 percent of all AIDS cases in America. For every white woman with HIV, there are 25 black women with the disease, Black and Hispanic women made up 83 percent of reported AIDS diagnoses among women, although they represent only 25 percent of all women. Between 2000 and 2004 the rate of new infections declined in black women and in many black men -- with the exception of men having sex with other men For African-American men, it is the HIV?AIDS rate is seven times the rate of white men and for African-American women it is 21 times the rate of whites |
In the struggle to get more of the Black Community involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, we must make use of a variety of resources. Beyond the standard awareness seminars and other basic outreach, we have to introduce new, innovative methods aimed at attracting folk who normally avoid such programs – arguably, the people who need the messages most.
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