African Americans and The Plague of HIV
My article last year was on the death of those I loved from HIV, particularly the death of my sister; a Black woman who contracted HIV from unprotected sex. That was 20 years ago, we didn’t know what we know now, right? So why am I sitting and writing a year later baffled and confused by numbers, by data and by facts? I look at the facts stating that African American women, who comprise only 12 percent of the female population, accounted for 59 percent of all the new HIV cases in Texas in 2008 (Texas Department of Health and Human Services -TDHHS, 2010). I’m confused as I sit and watch the numbers. But I’m not just confused, I’m also alarmed that each and every day a woman of color is infected or affected by HIV. I am saddened that each and every day a man of color dies from HIV. According to the TDHHS, the rate of the Black population living with HIV/AIDS in 2007 was over five times the rate in Whites and about four times the rate in Hispanics.
The estimated lifetime risk of becoming infected with HIV is 1 in 16 for Black males, and 1 in 30 for Black females. This is a far higher risk than the 1 in 104 for White males and 1 in 588 for White females (Avert.org). In the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, there was a belief that AIDS was a “gay white man’s disease” -these stats should certainly dispel that perception. However, in the 90’s, the rise of well known infected Black men, such as Magic Johnson and Arthur Ashe, brought awareness to the Black community that we, too, were the face of AIDS. Still, we look at the numbers and method of infection; unprotected sex is the leading cause of HIV infection for both men and women. Of major concern, is the large number of young African American men who are unaware of their status; being unaware that they are infected; they are not taking steps to protect their partners.
African Americans also have the highest rate of new infections and constitute the highest numbers who are not getting treatment.If we look at the fact that the rate of new diagnoses in Black females is eight times higher than the rates in White and Hispanic males and 14 times higher than the rates in Hispanic and White females, we see that for every one White or Hispanic female that is HIV positive, there are 14 positive African American women. In Texas, one in 112 African Americans is living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, one out of three HIV-infected Texans is diagnosed with AIDS within one year, so these are late diagnoses.
It’s all about knowing your status. If I could talk to every young brother and every young sister, I would say get tested. I would scream GET TESTED! I would weep get tested. So whether you are gay or non-gay identified, get tested!
The numbers are there; the research points to the fact that many African Americans know the epidemic of HIV disproportionately affects ourcommunity. So if we know where the breakdown is, why are we not getting treatment? Why are we not getting tested? Why are we not protecting each other? Part of me wants to equate this with Culture. In African American culture many men on the “down low” ain’t telling- you’re either gay or you ain’t. This is one theory as to the high rate of transmission in the heterosexual community. Also, we still have the fact that African American churches remain silent, for the most part, about the epidemic. One of the researchers pointed to the fact that there may even be a misconception of the existence of a cure or a vaccine for the disease among African Americans if they can pay for it. I call this the Magic Johnson affect.
So what can we do? I will sound like a broken record here: get tested and if positive get treatment, protect yourself and protect others and most importantly educate yourself and others. Each one, teach one and each one, reach one—it does indeed take a village. Some of the places that offer testing are the San Antonio AIDS Foundation, Hope Action Care, Beat AIDS, San Antonio Metro Health and your primary care provider.
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