In the United States, the annual number of new HIV infections has decreased from a peak of more than 150,000 in the mid-1980s and has stabilized since the late 1990s at approximately 40,000. Despite these decreasing infection rates, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a health crisis for African Americans. In 2002, HIV/AIDS was among the top 3 causes of death for African American men aged 25–54 years and among the top 4 causes of death for African American women aged 25–54 years. It was the number 1 cause of death for African American women aged 25–34 years.
According to the 2000 census, African Americans make up 12.3% of the US population. The 178,233 African Americans living with AIDS in the United States accounted for 43% of all people in the United States living with AIDS. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American adults and adolescents was 10 times the rate for whites and almost 3 times the rate for Hispanics. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American women was 23 times the rate for white women. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American men was 8 times the rate for white men.
Risk factors that lead to high rates of HIV in African Americans include:
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Sexual Risk Factors (African American women may not know their partner’s sexual history)
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Lack of Awareness of HIV Positive Status
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Substance Abuse (injection drug use)
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Sexually Transmitted Diseases (genital lesions caused by some STDs can increase one’s chances of contracting HIV 3- to 5- fold)
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Socioeconomic Issues (lack of access to HIV prevention education and high quality health care)
Baltimore City residents account for more than 50% of all of Maryland’s HIV cases. More than 3% of African American men in the city are infected with the disease.
What You Can Do
Your risk of getting HIV or passing it to someone else depends on several things. Do you know what they are? You might want to talk to someone who knows about HIV. You can also do the following:
- Abstain from sex (do not have sex of any kind) until you are in a relationship with only one person, are having sex with only each other, and you know your own and each other’s HIV status.
- If both you and your partner have HIV, use condoms to prevent other STDs and possible infection with a different strain of HIV.
- If only one of you has HIV, use a latex condom and lubricant every time you have sex.
- If you have, or plan to have, more than one sex partner, consider the following:
- Get tested for HIV
- If you are a man who has had sex with other men, get tested at least once a year.
- If you are a woman who is planning to get pregnant or who is pregnant, get tested as soon as possible, before you have your baby.
- Talk about HIV and other STDs with each partner before you have sex.
- Learn as much as you can about each partner’s past behavior (sex and drug use) and consider the risks to your health before you have sex.
- Ask your partners if they have recently been tested for HIV; and if not, encourage them to get tested.
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Use a latex condom and lubricant every time you have sex.
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If you think you may have been exposed to another STD such as gonorrhea, syphilis, or chlamydia, seek treatment because these diseases can increase your risk of getting HIV.
- Even if you think you have low risk for HIV infection, consider getting tested whenever you have a regular medical check-up.
- Do not inject illicit drugs (drugs not prescribed by a doctor). You can get HIV through needles, syringes, and other works if they are contaminated with the blood of someone else who has HIV. Drugs also cloud your mind, which may result in riskier sex.
- If you do inject drugs, do the following:
- Use only clean needles, syringes, and other works.
- Never share needles, syringes, or other works.
- Get tested for HIV test at least once a year.
- Consider getting counseling and possible treatment for your drug use.
- Do not have sex when you are taking drugs or drinking alcohol because they make you more likely to take risks.
To protect yourself, remember these ABCs:
A=Abstinence B=Be Faithful C=Condoms
Resources in Baltimore
Maryland AIDS Hotline
In Maryland, (Bilingual) 800-638-6252
In Metro DC. & VA: (800) 322-7432
Hispanic AIDS Hotline: (301) 949-0945
Baltimore only TTY area: (410) 333-2437
Free, Confidential HIV Testing (Baltimore City Health Department)
Druid Family Health Center
1515 West North Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21217
(410) 396-1076Eastern Health District Center
620 North Caroline Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
(410) 396-9410
Needle Exchange Program
The Needle Exchange Program is an HIV/AIDS prevention program that offer intravenous drug users risk reduction education to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. To become a participant of the needle exchange program one must register on the mobile van, which stops at 12 different location throughout the city each week. The participant must be an injecting drug user. This program is free and confidential. No identification is required. There is no minimum age requirement.
For more information, please call (410) 637-1900 on Wednesdays only, or visit www.bsasinc.org/nep.html.
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www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/resources/factsheets/aa.htm
