Stopping HIV/AIDS in the Black Community

One in 16 black men in Washington, DC and 1 in 40 black men in New York City are HIV infected. Of these new infections, 20% are unaware of their status, and continue to unknowingly spread the virus. More than a quarter of new infections occur in predominantly Black or Hispanic women since the risk

of infection increases within the same sexual networks. According to El-Sadr in the New England Journal of Medicine:

‘HIV disproportionately affects poor black Americans who have substandard education, unstable housing, and limited social mobility. This confluence of factors may result in high rates of incarceration, which threaten a community’s social fabric. Such vulnerable populations must engage in research, program development, and interventions that are culturally relevant and address the socioeconomic milieu in which HIV transmission occurs.’

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