Stopping HIV/AIDS in the Black Community…

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Over the last decade the prevalence of HIV infection in the United States has reached new highs and now rivals the numbers we see in sub-saharan Africa. According to Wafaa M. El-Sadr, hiv-aids director of the International Center for Aids Care and Treatment at Columbia University, more than half a million Americans became infected with HIV in the past decade taking the total tally to just over 1 million.

One in 16 black men in Washington, DC and 1 in 40 black men in New York City are HIV infected. Of these new infections, 20% are unaware of their status, and continue to unknowingly spread the virus. More than a quarter of new infections occur in predominantly Black or Hispanic women since the risk of infection increases within the same sexual networks. According to El-Sadr in the New England Journal of Medicine:

‘HIV disproportionately affects poor black Americans who have substandard education, unstable housing, and limited social mobility. This confluence of factors may result in high rates of incarceration, which threaten a community’s social fabric. Such vulnerable populations must engage in research, program development, and interventions that are culturally relevant and address the socioeconomic milieu in which HIV transmission occurs.’

HIV has become an epidemic within the black population, and this needs to be acknowledged so we can expand the dialogue and save the millions of people who will be newly infected in the next decade. Tips to help you and those you care about fight against a disease that is ravaging the black community:

Get Tested: Knowing your HIV status will help to stem the tide of new infections.
Use protection: Condoms are a smart way to engage in safe sex, and they stop the spread of HIV. Be smart and protect yourself.
Dialogue: It’s time to talk about HIV/AIDS so that it will no longer be a silent killer in the black community. Teach your kids about the dangers of HIV and unprotected sex and talk about it with friends and co-workers. As parents, caretakers, health officials, radio personalities, and media writers, you are the first line of defense against HIV and it is in your power to open the lines of communication.
Education: Insist that HIV prevention and education be taught in schools, in jails, and find ways to make it accessible to the whole community.
Research: We must engage in our own research to understand the scope of this pandemic within the Black community, and find funding for new ideas to help stop the spread of this disease.