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.