World AIDS Day
Today marks the annual commemoration of World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day is a chance to reflect on the tragedy of the epidemic. It is also a time for us to remember the lives lost to AIDS and how we can look ahead to save other lilves through prevention, testing, treatment and awareness. When the AIDS virus first became known as a plaguing health issue in the 80s, the face of AIDS was portrayed as a homosexual, white male or a woman iving in poverty in Africa. However, as it has progressed and become more prevalent, the face of AIDS is the image in the mirror. AIDS no longer knows race, ethnicity, age, educational level, gender or socioeconomic status. Your sexual orientation doesn’t prevent you from being at risk. From surburbia to the city limits, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has taken milions of lives, as well as changed how many live their lives.
According to the Washington Post, new government estimates of the number of Americans who become infected with the AIDS virus each year are 50 percent higher than previous calculations suggested. These estimates were provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and for more than a decade epidemiologists have pegged the number of new HIV infections each year at 40,000. They now believe it is between 55,000 and 60,000.
We truly need to stop seeing HIV/AIDS as more of an international issue and not much of an issue in the United States. When in fact, these numbers tell us that HIV/AIDS continues to be a serious problem among American and appears to be larger than expected.
While vast improvements have been made in treatments and in medicine, I feel there is so much for us to do in awareness and prevention, especially in the Black community. As a member of this community, I was so struck by the recent rates of HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC (my current residence). A report released last week on HIV in the District, revealed a major epidemic in the Black community. More than 80 percent of the 3,269 HIV cases identified between 2001 and 2006 were among black men, women and adolescents. Among women who tested positive, a rising percentage of local cases, nine of 10 were African American. With regards to the mode of transmission for newly reported HIV cases, heterosexual contact was the most common at 37.4% in contrast to the 25.8% of men having sex with men. It is startling that the District’s AIDS rate is the worst of any city in the country, nearly twice the rate in New York and more than four times the incidence in Detroit, and it has been steadily increasing faster than that of many cities. What is even more startling, is that Black women in D.C. are fast becoming the group with the highest rate of HIV/AIDS.
To all of my fellow women, whether you live in DC or North Dakota, I appeal to you to:
Live life, Live Healthy!!
