According to Seattle and King County Public Health, blacks in King County continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, with an HIV rate four times that of whites. The Public Health office is calling attention to this crisis in the black community today, on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, by promoting actions that prevent the spread of HIV.
“If you don’t know your HIV status, now is the time to get tested,” warned Dr. Joanne Stekler, deputy director of the Seattle and King County Public Health HIV/STD program. “If you aren’t involved in the HIV prevention movement, now is the time to start participating. And if you have HIV and aren’t being treated, now is the time to learn what your options are.”
Blacks account for more HIV and AIDS cases than any other race or ethnicity nationally. Even though they are only 14 percent of the U.S. population, they make up almost half the people living with HIV. Blacks represent 6.5 percent of the population in King County, but account for 20 percent of new HIV infections.
An even scarier fact: Although knowing HIV status reduces and delays the chances of getting AIDS, blacks in King County are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV closer to the time they get diagnosed with AIDS. Which means, they are being diagnosed a lot later than when they got infected.
Can we also get the breakdown of guys and gals as well?
@2 – I’m echoing what you said, so hopefully when racist troll finally does show up, it’ll seem more comical than depressing.
Belated FIRSTIES!!!
Seriously, I’m really curious if the main method of transmission is through het sex, DL sex, or drug use.
this site:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices…
provides access to the health dept’s HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Semi-annual Reports. You can download PDFs and parse the data to your heart’s content.
Homosexuals account for more HIV and AIDS cases than any other demographic group nationally. Even though they are only 2 percent of the U.S. population, they make up far more than half (57%) of the people living with HIV.
@6 Straights account for far more abortions than any other demographic nationally.
@9 Given the numbers in the PDF gnossos linked #5, income and incarceration seem to account for a significant portion of the disparity for American born blacks. Foreign born blacks are also much more likely, although I don’t know if I want to flag that selective immigration, colonialism, missionary religiosity or what have you on that.
Your sarcasm aside, you are not that far from correct.
@ Susan Buskin (page 7 of PDF mentioned above) Perhaps you did not really mean to say:
“We hope you enjoy this 76th edition of out Epidemiology report.”
Why can’t the stranger wiseup and stop the anon comments? I blame the darkys
Ok. As probably the only gay black guy, who’s HIV neg by the way and gets tested every 3-4 months, to comment on this, I’ll say this. I feel extremely sad when I see this mainly because it casts a shadow on guys like myself. I always feel that I’m the minority within the minorities – That is a black gay guy who’s HIV negative. The other reason why I hate these stats is that in reality, it makes all black gay/bi men regardless of hiv status look like we’re all infected or on our way to being infected. I always think that this becomes another reason to be rejected by gay/bi guys in this area. Try being a gay black guy in Seattle. Sometimes, it’s easy. Sometimes it’s not.
For all the closeted racists within both the gay and straight communities who find these statistics fuel for their tirade against Blacks and other minorities, look at the other statistics. Whites in WA state still hold the majority of people living with HIV/AIDS. In terms of HIV seroconversion, white gay/bi men still infect each other at a higher rate than blacks gay men do. It’s evident when you look at sites like Manhunt, Adam4adam, grindr, and where ever gay/bi boys go to hook up. Many guys lie on their status as part of their denial that they’re infected and also as part of their fear of being rejected.
Do we need targeted efforts at HIV prevention that are sensitive to the unique needs of people of color? You bet.
Do we need more stigmatization (such as apres_moi points out)? Of course not.
Do we need to call everyone to a higher standard of personal responsibility to get tested and to stop fucking without condoms? Yes, regardless of the race of the person.
The great Unsayable Thing is that the only way HIV spreads is behavior: stupidly sharing needles, stupidly fucking without condoms, or a condom breaking–and I doubt the 55-60,000 new infections in the United States each year (a rate that has been steady for a decade) are all happening due to busted rubbers. No, it’s because of things people consciously choose to do, and HIV transmission happens only because one of these people has HIV and gives it to another, either because he or she does not know his/her status, or because that person does know he/she has the virus but does not care. Either way, we all need to take responsibility not only for our own health (by getting tested regularly), but for the health of others (by not acting sexually selfishly). But no, we can’t say this, we can’t tell Poz people that, yes, sorry folks, you have a higher level of responsibility in making sure you do not let the virus pass beyond your body, because that would be “blaming,” and god forbid, we upset anyone’s feelings in order to stop an epidemic.