HIV/AIDS FACTS - AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN

African Americans account for more than one-third (38%) of the 816,149 AIDS cases since the beginning of the epidemic. In 2001 alone, African Americans accounted for about half (49%) of the 43,158 cases reported. 1 African Americans account for more than half (54%) of the 40,000 new HIV infections estimated to occur in the US each year. 2 HIV is the leading cause of death for African Americans ages 25-44. 3 The AIDS rate for African American men in 2001 was eight times that of white men. Black women is HIV-positive. 1 The leading cause of HIV infection among African American men is sexual contact with other men, followed by injection drug use and heterosexual contact. 4 A CDC study of Job Corps entrants, ages 16 to 21, found that compared to their white counterparts, African American men were four times more likely to be infected. 7 Injection drug use contribute to the high rates of HIV found in US jails and prison as a result of the significant number of African Americans who are incarcerated for drug-related offense. 6 African American men who have sex with men are at two to three times higher risk for HIV infection than white men who have sex with men. 1 The stigma of homosexuality contributes to higher disease rates among communities of color because African American men who have sex with other men are less likely than whites to identify themselves as gay. 5 Closeted gay men and those who do not self identify as gay (those on the “down low” or “DL”) are more likely to engage in casual or anonymous sex; these activities are more likely to occur without a discussion of condom use and safer sex. 6 References: CDC, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, Vol 13, No2. CDC, HIV/AIDS Update: A Glance at the Epidemic, February 2002 CDC, NCHS, National Vital Statistics Report, Leading Causes of Death for 2000, vol 50, No.16, September 2002. Kaiser Family Foundation, Key Facts: African Americans and HIV/AIDS, September 2003. The Body. Policy Facts: AIDS-Related Stigma, January 2001. The Body. Policy Facts: Communities of Color and HIV/AIDS, January 2002. U.S. Bureau of the Consensus, 2000 Summary File 3(SF3)-Sample Data.