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Eliminate Disparities in HIV and AIDS

What is the Burden of HIV/AIDS in the United States?
HIV infection is the fifth leading cause of death for people who are 25-44 years old in the United States,1 and is the leading cause of death for African-American men ages 35-44.2  Overall estimates are that 850,000 to 950,000 U.S. residents are living with HIV infection, one-quarter of whom are unaware of their infection.3 Approximately 40,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the United States, and approximately 5 million new HIV cases occur each year worldwide.3

Examples of Important Disparities
Racial and ethnic populations have been disproportionately affected by both the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. Although African-American and Hispanic persons represent about one-quarter of the country’s population, more than half of new AIDS cases reported to CDC are among these populations.4 Among children, the disparities are even more dramatic, with African-American and Hispanic children representing more than 80 percent of pediatric AIDS cases in 2000.5 Approximately 78 percent of HIV-infected women are minorities and most become infected through heterosexual transmission. HIV infection acquired through injection drug use has been a major factor affecting minority communities. During 1995, 50 percent of the AIDS cases acquired as a result of injection drug use were in African Americans and 24 percent were in Hispanics.6

 What is the Goal?
The target date for eliminating disparities 2010.  Public health agencies are looking at ways to reduce HIV infection among minority populations.  They plan to

red arrow Increase services to diagnose HIV early.
red arrow Make appropriate health services more available.
red arrow Provide early and equal access to health care and drugs for at least 75 percent of low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS.
red arrow Educate medical providers so that Medicaid-eligible women and HIV-infected children can receive clinical care.

Promising Strategies
Improve recognition of risk, detection of infection, referral to follow-up care, and assuring proper treatment. Providers must ensure that more people in these minority populations:
 

red triangle Know if they have HIV.
red triangle Receive appropriate counseling and treatment.
red triangle Have early access to medical care to prevent or delay AIDS.

Clinical trials need to address the specific needs and concerns of minority groups. Researchers need to ensure that minority patients have an opportunity to participate in these trials, and to communicate the results of the studies to minority communities. Information on AIDS needs to be distributed in languages other than English and in low-literacy formats.

What can Healthcare Providers Do To Help Stop The Spread of HIV/AIDS?
Practitioners must ensure that HIV counseling, testing, and screening programs are accessible to HIV-infected individuals. Patients should be counseled on prevention strategies and other methods to reduce the risk of contracting the disease. Physicians should also explain the benefits of knowing one’s serostatus, refer patients to other medical services, and ensure patients receive effective therapies.

What is the Community’s Role in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS?
Until an effective vaccine is developed for the prevention of HIV infection, communities must continue to support programs that emphasize behavioral risk reduction and other prevention strategies targeted to populations with high HIV infection rates. Because many individuals in these communities are aware of their serostatus only after being diagnosed with AIDS, communities must assist at-risk individuals in accessing treatment programs designed to diagnose HIV infection early and institute proper care.

For more information about HIV and AIDS:

OMH National HIV Testing Day Highlight

National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP) 

  Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP)
    HIV/AIDS Among African Americans
    HIV/AIDS Among Hispanics in the United States
    HIV/AIDS Among US Women: Minority & Young Women at
   Continuing Risk
    HIV/AIDS Surveillance Slides

National Prevention Information Network (NPIN)

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

 

HIV/AIDS Bureau

The National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC)

 

HIV/AIDS Page

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

 

HIV and AIDS Activities

U.S. Census Bureau

 

HIV/AIDS Surveillance

World Health Organization (WHO)

 

HIV/AIDS Page

Advocates for Youth: Serving Youth of Color

Sources

  1 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Health, United States, 2002, Table 33.
  2 NCHS, National Vital Statistics Report, vol 50(16); 30
  3 NIAID, 2002.
  4 National Center for HIV, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention (NCHSTP), 2001.
  5 NCHS, Health, United States, 2002, Table 54.
  6 NIAID, 2001.


 

 

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Last Updated on November 03, 2004
Office of Minority Health

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