CDC News: New data show disparities in HIV care for African Americans

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent this bulletin at 02/04/2016 01:29 PM EST

African Americans living with HIV are less likely than white or Latino Americans to receive consistent, ongoing medical care, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. Despite signs of progress, HIV continues to affect African Americans disproportionately, with disparities like HIV care prolonging the epidemic among this community.

Key findings from today’s report, released ahead of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (observed Sunday, February 7), include:

 * Only 38% of African Americans got consistent HIV care from 2011 –
   2013, compared to about half of whites and Latinos
 * African American men were less likely to receive consistent medical
   care than African American women (35% and 44%, respectively)
 * Consistent retention was highest among African Americans whose HIV
   infections were attributable to heterosexual contact

African Americans represent 12 percent of the total U.S. population yet accounted for almost half (44 percent) of HIV diagnoses in 2014 – and for more than one-third of people living with HIV.
 

The Gayly- 2/8/2016 @ 11:06 AM CST