HIV and AIDS

• The Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that weakens the immune systems and causes Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that has caused many deaths since it was first diagnosed in the early 1980's. Education, however, has helped in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Recent advances in medication and treatment can delay the onset of AIDS when HIV is detected early, and can lengthen and improve the quality of the life of those who have AIDS.
  

• Despite these advances, HIV/AIDS still threatens public health, particularly in the minority community. African Americans are disproportionately likely to contract HIV/AIDS. Although African Americans comprised about 12% of the population in 1998, they represented 45% of the 48,269 new AIDS cases reported in the United States in 1998, and about 62% of the new cases reported among women and children. Blacks only represented 23% percent of all new cases in 1982, and 30% of the new cases in 1990. Since 1995, they have constituted a larger percentage of new cases than any other racial or ethnic group.
  

• In 1997, an estimated 240,000-325,000 African Americans--about 1 in every 50 black men and 1 in 160 black women--were HIV positive. Blacks comprised 57% of all HIV diagnoses from January 1994 to June 1997, and 63% of the cases diagnosed among 13 to 24 year olds. These statistics suggest that in coming years, blacks may represent an even greater proportion of AIDS cases in the United States.

• The cases of AIDS among black women in 1998 represent an annual rate of 49.8 (all rates are per 100,000). This rate was over three times higher than that for Hispanic women (16.6), and more than 20 times higher than the rate for white women (2.4). The annual rate for black men--125.2--was seven times the rate for white men (17.8) and more than twice that for Hispanic men (58.2). Cases of AIDS among children under age 13 were sixteen times higher among blacks (3.2) than among whites (0.2).
  

• Among people over age 13, the 1998 rates of AIDS declined by 20% to 25% from the corresponding rates in 1997 for each group, except among black women, whose rate declined by only 15%. Among children under 13, AIDS cases declined 20% among blacks and 30% among Hispanics, but did not change among whites.
  

• Among black men with AIDS, homosexual contact (38%) and intravenous drug use (35%) cause the largest proportion of cumulative AIDS cases reported since the epidemic began. Injecting drugs accounted for 44% of all AIDS cases reported among black women, and heterosexual contact 37%. Only 7% of the cases reported among black men were due to heterosexual contact.
  

• Men ages 40 to 44 have more cases of HIV infection than men in other age groups, and in this age group there were more black men than white or Hispanic men with HIV. However, fewer black women than white or Hispanic women had HIV infections, except in the 20-24 age group, where more blacks than Hispanics had HIV.

• The death rates from HIV infection have consistently been higher for black men and women than for any other groups. In 1996, 66.4 black men per 100,000 and 20.2 black women per 100,000 died from HIV. The rate for black men was over twice that for Hispanic men (26.0) and over 5 times that for white men (20.2). The rate for black women was 3 times that for Hispanic women (6.2) and more than 10 times that for white women (1.8).
  

• The death rates from HIV infection in 1996 were substantially lower than they were in 1995 for each of the groups. They dropped by about 21% among black men, 16% among black women, 35% among white and Hispanic men, and about 27% among white and Hispanic women.
  

• Until 1995, however, death rates from HIV infections increased dramatically for all groups, and especially for blacks and women. From 1987 to 1995, death rates more than tripled for black men, from 25.4 deaths per 100,000 in 1987 to 84.3 in 1995, and more than quadrupled among black women, from 4.7 to 24.0. Death rates for Hispanic and white women also quadrupled, and rates approximately doubled for Hispanic and white men.
  

• In 1997, AIDS was the seventh leading cause of death for African Americans of all ages. Among 25-to-44-year-old blacks, it was the leading cause of death for men and the second leading cause of death for women.

References

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, Year-End Edition, US HIV and AIDS Cases Reported Through December 1998, 10(2). 1998.
  

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, Year-End Edition, US HIV and AIDS Cases Reported Through December 1997, 9(2). 1998.
  

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trends in the HIV and AIDS Epidemic, 1998. 1998.
  

• National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 1998, With Socioeconomic Status and Health Chartbook 1998. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.

Prepared by Deitra Lee, Cassandra Cantave, and Roderick Harrison for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. August 1999.

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