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Heterosexual African-American women
are being disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, attendees were
told on Wednesday at the 19th International AIDS Conference (IAC) in
Washington. These women comprise 60 percent of new cases among US women and
face infection rates 15 times the rate of white women, according to C. Virginia
Fields, president of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS.
CDC data for 2009 show that black
women represented the next-largest group of new infections, after men who have
sex with men (MSM) of all races, with 5,400 cases. One in 32 black US women can
expect an HIV diagnosis in her lifetime, according to CDC.
At the IAC, Linda Scruggs, an
African-American woman, explained how she was first diagnosed with HIV 22 years
ago when she became pregnant. Her doctors expressed little hope, but her son
was born HIV-negative and recently turned 21. Scruggs recounted being molested
and raped multiple times; she does not know which attack may have caused her
infection.
In Washington, the HIV prevalence
rate of 2.7 percent exceeds that of many developing countries. Among the city’s
black residents, who make up about half of the population, the prevalence rate
is 4.3 percent.
AIDS advocates say healthcare reform
could turn the tide on the AIDS epidemic by extending coverage to more people,
especially those who are poor or minorities. “This is an epidemic of
communities of color,” said Daniel Montoya, deputy executive director of the
National Minority AIDS Council.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
