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Black high school students in
Florida have made marked improvements in reducing sexual risk behaviors,
mirroring progress seen nationally among black youths. Nationally, racial
disparities for risk behaviors between blacks and youths of other ethnicities persisted
but narrowed, CDC reported during the 19th International AIDS Conference in
Washington.
Between 1991 and 2011 nationally,
black students in ninth through 12th grades showed a 26.8 percent decline for
those reporting ever having had sex, a 30.5 percent drop in the number who
reported being sexually active, a 41.8 percent decline for having multiple
partners, and a 35.4 percent increase for condom use.
Florida Department of Health
statistics for black teen sexual activity only go back to 2001, but the state
saw a similar, less dramatic trend, said Meredith Jagger, the department’s
youth survey coordinator. Over a 10-year period in Florida, black high school
students reported a 10.9 percent drop in the number who had had sex, a 15.4
percent decline in those with multiple partners, and an 18.2 percent drop in
ongoing sexual activity. There was no statistical change for condom use, Jagger
said.
In Florida, progress among white and
Hispanic students stalled, though white students showed a 4.9 percent gain in
reported condom use.
“I think what’s going on in the
African-American community as a whole is that they’ve just been bombarded with
education and what’s going on with the AIDS epidemic,” said Larry Lamb,
clinical director for The Pantry of Broward. It took longer to mobilize
resources and information for the black community, which may be why black
students now are doing better while progress among their peers has stagnated,
he said.
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!
