Black Coalition on AIDS - Health issues - HIV

Content starts here

The African American community suffers from significant health disparities when compared with the population as a whole. HIV/AIDS presents one of the most significant dangers, but community health as a whole requires a broad focus in order to change the alarming health disparity statistics of the African American community.

HIV/AIDS

HIV Basics
HIV Statistics
Community Health

HIV Basics

What is HIV?

HIV is an acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

It is a virus that is spread through bodily fluids such as semen, blood, vaginal fluids and breast milk, and if left untreated, can lead to AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). HIV damages a person’s immune system by destroying the cells that are crucial to helping the body fight infections and diseases thereby weakening the immune system.

AIDS is an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It is usually confused with HIV. HIV is the virus that can cause AIDS while AIDS is a diagnosis usually made by a physician when a patient’s t-cells fall below 200 and s/he is diagnosed with an opportunistic infection.

Before the development of certain medications, greater numbers of people living with HIV progressed to an AIDS diagnosis in just a few years; and a high mortality rate was commonplace. Due to many medical advances in research and the development of HIV medicine, people are now living much longer—even decades—with HIV. The new treatments that were introduced in the mid 1990s, post-AZT have greatly reduced the number of AIDS diagnosis and deaths

What are the Symptoms?

Soon after infection, many people develop short-term flu-like symptoms ranging from fevers, swollen lymph nodes, weight loss, fatigue, diarrhea, anemia, thrush, or even Pneumocystis pneumonia but there are many people infected with HIV who show no symptoms. For those reasons, it is important that individuals regularly get tested for HIV.

How do you Protect Yourself/Partners?

HIV is spread primarily by not using a condom when having sex with a person who has HIV. All unprotected sex with someone who has HIV contains some risk. However.

Unprotected anal sex is riskier than unprotected vaginal sex.
Among men who have sex with other men, unprotected receptive anal sex (bottoming) is riskier than unprotected insertive anal sex (topping).
Having multiple sex partners or the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can increase the risk of infection during sex.
Sharing syringes, rinse water, or other equipment used to prepare illicit drugs for injection.
Being born to an infected mother—HIV can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy, birth, or breast-feeding.
Unprotected oral sex can also be a risk for HIV transmission, but it is a much lower risk than anal or vaginal sex.

Prevention

Thanks to research, we have found out HIV is a very preventable disease. We have learned that people can protect them selves by:

reducing the number of sexual partners they have – sex with multiple partners increases your chances of contracting an STD (sexually transmitted diseases) and/or HIV,
if you are sexually active, routinely get tested and treated for STDs; the presence of an untreated STD such as herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, etc can increase your chances of becoming infected with HIV,
if you inject needles, do not share as you can spread HIV (and Hepatitis) by contaminated blood,
by not engaging in unprotected sex (“bareback sex”) with partners who have HIV or whose HIV status you do not know. The most effective sexual protection is the male latex condom. When used correctly and consistently, studies show that male condoms are 98 to 100 percent effective against infection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the female condom also offers some protection against HIV and may be used when a male condom cannot be used.
Protection is also important during oral sex, either with a male condom or dental dam, which is a latex sheet. People who use injection drugs should use a clean needle each time they inject. Anti-HIV therapy for pregnant women infected with the virus can reduce the risk of mother-to-infant transmission substantially.

Was HIV Created in a Lab?

No, that is an urban myth. HIV is a virus that has evolved over time and, though it became a pandemic problem in recent human history, its origins are much older and found in nature; Simian ImmunoDeficiency Virus in monkeys.

Treatment

Thanks in large part to powerful combination therapies that include protease inhibitors, deaths from the disease have been declining. These drugs don't work for everybody, however, and can have serious side effects.

To determine if you need to take HIV medications, your doctor will take at least two blood tests:

a viral load test to see how much HIV is in your bloodstream, and
a T-cell test, also known as a CD4 count, which tests the strength of your immune system.

To read more about these tests, click here.

Based on both your T-cell test and viral load test results, you and your doctor will have a clearer picture of how HIV progresses in your body and if/when you should start HIV medications.

Current U.S. guidelines recommend that you begin HIV treatment if your CD4 count is between 350 and 500 or if you've developed an opportunistic infection. But many experts believe that people living with HIV may benefit by starting treatment earlier. Talk with a doctor who is knowledgeable about HIV and treatments so that you both agree that treatment is appropriate and you are ready to commit to taking medications consistently.

Once you decide to start treatment, the question becomes: What HIV meds should you take? With more than two dozen meds to choose from, the options can seem overwhelming. But there are established guidelines and blood tests (such as drug resistance testing and abacavir hypersensitivty testing) that can help you and your doctor determine the best regimen for you.

*Other references used: Centers for Disease Control and TheBody.com

HIV Statistics

San Francisco African Americans

In 2009, of the approximately 4,500 African American men who have sex with men (MSM) in San Francisco, 32% were thought to be living with HIV.¹
In a 2010 report published by the San Francisco Department of Public Health, epidemiologic data showed that African Americans are disproportionally affected by HIV/AIDS. Specifically, African Americans represent only 6% of the City’s total population but constitute 14% of all people living with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco.²
From 2006 to 2010, the HIV infection rate remained highest among African American men when compared to men in other racial/ethnic categories. For example, in 2010, the rate of diagnosed HIV infection per 100,000 was 151 for Black men, compared with 130 for Latino men and 94 for White men.³
In 2010, the rate of diagnosed HIV infection per 100,000 was 27 for black women, compared with 10 for Latino women and 6 for White women.⁴
The disparity in AIDS is particularly evident among Black women who comprised 45% of the 1,160 women diagnosed with AIDS through 2008.⁵
Note: The difference between AIDS and HIV is that a person is said to have AIDS, as opposed to simply being HIV positive, when either the number of immune (CD4-T) cells falls below a certain level or when he or she develops one of a specific group of opportunistic infections.

National Statistics

African Americans represented only 12% of the U.S. population in 2009 but accounted for 44% of all those newly diagnosed with HIV.⁶
In 2008, HIV was the 4th leading cause of death for Black men and women, ages 25-44.⁷
HIV-related deaths and HIV death rates are highest among African Americans. For example, in 2008, Blacks accounted for 56% of those who died due to HIV.⁸
The percentage of annual AIDS diagnoses for African Americans has risen from 25% of all AIDS diagnoses in 1985 to 48% in 2010.⁹
Black women accounted for the majority (64%) of AIDS diagnoses among all women in 2010, compared with 17% of Latino women 15% of White women.¹⁰
Black teens, ages 13-19, accounted for 70% of new AIDS diagnoses among all teens in 2010. They represented only 17% of American teenage population in 2009.¹¹
The HIV infection rate among Blacks was eight (8) times greater than the infection rate among whites in 2009.¹²
In 2009, the Blacks comprised 44% of all new HIV infections, compared with 20% for Latinos and 32% for Whites.¹³

National strategy regarding HIV

In 2010, President Obama introduced his administration’s HIV/AIDS initiative for moving the United States forward in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Titled “National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS),” the project is historic in being the nation's first-ever comprehensive, coordinated HIV/AIDS roadmap with clear and measurable targets. The NHAS is primed to meet the Obama Administration’s three core goals: reducing HIV incidence, increasing access to care and reducing HIV-related health disparities by 2015.

So far, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), the division of the Federal Government responsible for stewarding the initiative has engaged the public through HIV/AIDS community discussions with over 4,200 participants nationally; online feedback with over 800 submissions; expert meetings to look at issues related to HIV and youth, HIV and women, and HIV and housing; and community engagement with representatives of the American Indian/Alaska Native communities, people living with HIV in rural communities in the South and northeast, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, African immigrants, business and philanthropic leaders, and others.

Click here to read the NHAS document and other related reports.

San Francisco strategy for increased testing for HIV

In 2010, the San Francisco HIV Prevention Planning Council (HPPC), in partnership with San Francisco Department of Public Health, HIV Prevention Section, released its report titled the “2010 HIV Prevention Plan.” The Plan is a key resource for prevention workers because it combines health data, community testimony and expert opinions to determine the best strategies to reduce new HIV infections in San Francisco.

Click here to read the Plan.

Guidelines for Routine HIV Screening and Testing

San Francisco has focused its efforts on testing to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the City. In March of 2012, the Department of Public Health released “Guidelines for Routine HIV Screening and Testing According to Setting” to advise healthcare practitioners and community-based organizations on best practices for HIV testing in an effort to move towards increased HIV status awareness.

Click here to read the document.

Click here for San Francisco testing sites and days/hours.

African American Working Group. San Francisco African American HIV Action Plan Recommendations. PowerPoint presentation, HIV Prevention Section, San Francisco: San Francisco Department of Public Health, 2009. http://sfhiv.org/documents/0212AAAPPresentation.ppt.
San Francisco HIV Prevention Planning Council. 2010 San Francisco HIV Prevention Plan. PDF, HIV Prevention Section, San Francisco: San Francisco Department of Public Health, 2010. http://sfhiv.org/documents/CompletePlan.pdf.
San Francisco Department of Public Health. HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report. PDF, HIV Epidemiology Section, San Francisco: San Francisco Department of Public Health, 2010. http://sfhiv.org/documents/AnnualReport2010GreenSurveillance.pdf.
San Francisco Department of Public Health. HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report. PDF, HIV Epidemiology Section, San Francisco: San Francisco Department of Public Health, 2010. http://sfhiv.org/documents/AnnualReport2010GreenSurveillance.pdf.
San Francisco HIV Prevention Planning Council. 2010 San Francisco HIV Prevention Plan. PDF, HIV Prevention Section, San Francisco: San Francisco Department of Public Health, 2010. http://sfhiv.org/documents/CompletePlan.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: Black Americans and HIV/AIDS." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/6089-10.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: Black Americans and HIV/AIDS." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/6089-10.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: Black Americans and HIV/AIDS." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/6089-10.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: Black Americans and HIV/AIDS." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/6089-10.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: Black Americans and HIV/AIDS." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/6089-10.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: Black Americans and HIV/AIDS." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/6089-10.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/3029-13.pdf.
Kaiser Family Foundation. "Fact Sheet: The HIV/AIDS Epidemic in the United States." PDF, HIV Policy Program, 2012. http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/3029-13.pdf

Health Issues: HIV/AIDS