Jon L. Christensen: “reports have been coming out since the HIV/AIDS epidemic first surfaced in the United States more than 25 years ago and…”

“reports have been coming out since the HIV/AIDS epidemic first surfaced in the United States more than 25 years ago and every year, they have--and continue to--report the same findings: Since the beginning, this epidemic has had--and continues to have--a disproportionate and detrimental impact on the African American community. In fact, over time, the impact of the epidemic on the Black community has gotten worse, leaving African Americans--more so than any other population group--hardest hit by HIV/AIDS at every stage of life. Today, African Americans--who are represented in about 13 percent of the U.S. population--account for more than 40 percent of all individuals currently living with AIDS and nearly 50 percent of all new HIV infections. More than 7 in 10 children born to women infected with HIV are African American and the AIDS case rate among African Americans is nearly ten times higher than that among whites. Additionally, African Americans account for 40 percent of all AIDS deaths. In fact, African Americans are 7 times more likely than whites to die from an AIDS-related causes. Particularly affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic are African American women, who are represented in roughly 7 in 10 new AIDS cases among women and who are an estimated 25 times more likely than white women to be infected with HIV. In fact, in 2002, AIDS was the leading cause of death for African-American women, aged 25 to 34 years of age.”