Premium Essay

Hiv in African Americans

In:

Submitted By selica1977
Words 2241
Pages 9
Running head: AIDS/HIV IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY

MBA 530

Community Health Evaluation/Epidemiology

Dr. Patricia Pierce

Latoya Blain

06/17/2012

AIDS/HIV in the African American Community Of all the ethnic and racial groups of the United States of America, the African Americans are the ones who have been to a larger extent faced with the HIV/AIDS burden. Statistics show that more than two hundred and thirty thousand African Americans have already passed on as a result of AIDS- a figure which represents 40% of the total deaths in the U.S. Besides, it is estimated that those living with HIV in the U.S. are more than one million, half of whom are blacks (NASTAD, 2005). The probability of having been infected with HIV/AIDS among the African Americans is one on every 16 (for the black males) and 1 in every 30 people (for the black women). Washington D.C. has the highest prevalence of HIV infection, at three percent; with 75% of the infected people being African Americans. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy has reported that African Americans form the greatest proportion of the many cases of HIV/AIDS in the various transmission sorts, including among women, injection drug users, infants and heterosexual men (The White House, 2010). From the above statistics, one may, therefore, wonder African Americans as affected by AIDS in such a disproportionate manner. Historically, it was back in the early 1980s when the first AIDS cases among the African Americans were identified. During this era, HIV and AIDS among the blacks was a disease closely associated with intravenous drug users (IDUs) and gay men. But in 1983, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States documented the very first AIDS in women cases as a result of sexual intercourse between these women and IDUs

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Hiv in Black African American

...HIV in the African American Population HIV in the African American Population The year was 1981, and the first discovered cases of PCP, Pneumocystis Cabrini pneumonia was discovered in five young males who did not fit the norm for being diagnosed with this disease. In 1983, the isolation of a T lymph tropic retrovirus was found. In January 1983, the CDC reported a new disease which could be sexually transmitted both homosexually and heterosexual, passed from mother to infant, through blood and blood products. A note was made that the disease could also be passed from a negative host, who carried the disease asymptomatically. On February 7th, the world takes notice of the African American blacks and their relationship with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2006, blacks composed approximately 12% of the United States population over the age of 13. Out of that reported number it was estimated that 46% of them are living with HIV/AIDS. 63% of those cases were from between male to male cases, with 83% new cases being from high risk heterosexual black females. The numbers from the CDC report it is an estimated 12.3 per 10,000 blacks that are currently affected yearly. Of all the ethnic and racial groups of the United States of America, the African Americans are the ones who have been to a larger extent faced with the HIV/AIDS burden. Statistics show that more than two hundred and thirty thousand African Americans have already passed on as a result of AIDS- a figure which represents...

Words: 2772 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

Older African-Americans & Hiv

...Barbara Peprase, PhD., RN. “HIV Knowledge, Perceived Seriousness and Susceptibility, and Risk Behaviors of Older African Americans” Journal of Multicultural Nursing and Health Johnson 3 Age presents a unique challenge for health care providers in that some relatively newer diseases may not be perceived the same in the elderly as it is in the younger population in general. The study produced by Frances Jackson et al. sheds an illuminating light on the perceptions of elderly African Americans as it relates to HIV/Aids. The District of Columbia has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the country and as nurses, we must continue to try to educate our citizens some of the lingering misconceptions about the disease. Indeed, knowledge in this instance, can be life saving. The study by Jackson et al. illustrates the enormity of the task at hand. The survey group included 155 useful responses to the 500 questionnaires mailed. The questionnaire was based on four themes: knowledge, seriousness, susceptibility and risk behaviors. According to Jackson, “older African Americans generally have a high level of knowledge about HIV but still believe that HIV can be acquired through casual contact and have other misinformation regarding transmission. Older African Americans believe that HIV/Aids is a serious disease but do not feel personally susceptible to acquiring it. There is widespread reluctance among African American men and women to using condoms....

Words: 691 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Hiv and Aids in African American Women

...Jennifer McKinnon HIV/AIDS Disease University of Phoenix HCS 245 Professor Tynan Weed June 2, 2013 Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome also known as AIDS is the final stage of the disease known as Human Immunodeficiency virus. To understand AIDS we first need to discuss HIV. HIV compromises the body’s ability to fight off infections, bacteria and other harmful microorganisms that attack ones immune system, this is usually what causes AIDS. After the body’s immune system is compromised the ability to naturally fight off these things is weakened and the likelihood that it will be attacked is dramatically increased. As the body is defending what it can the possibility of certain types of cancer is also raised. The HIV and/or AIDS disease can go undetected with no signs or symptoms for up to ten years. Scientists believe that the disease came from a chimpanzee and humans acquired it or became infected with it when they would hunt and eat these animals. Some of the factors that put African American women at a more vulnerable state in being infected with HIV and/or AIDS are barriers to testing and treatment, including poverty, limited access to healthcare or prevention education. Studies have shown the direct link of poverty in African American women to be consistent higher HIV and/or AIDS infection rate. The environmental factors that make African American women more vulnerable to HIV and/or AIDS are poverty with limited education. The consequences of not a having primary...

Words: 1003 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Health Promotion in Hiv African American Women

...HIV Prevention in African American Women Introduction From its origin, HIV/AIDS has been defined as a sexually transmitted disease associated primarily with white homosexual men. In fact, African Americans are the racial/ethnic groups that are mostly influenced by HIV/AIDs. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, by the end of 2008, an estimated 240,627 blacks with and AIDs diagnosis has died in the United States (CDC, 2012). Contrary to the evident statistics affecting the African American population as a whole, there remains a small amount of research studies, dedicated towards HIV/AIDs healthcare promotion and prevention strategies specifically designed for the African American women. However, there are a large proportion of African American women affected by HIV/AIDs. In 2009, black women accounts for 30% of the new estimations of HIV infections among blacks. The rate for HIV infections as compared to other populations is 15 times more than white women, and three times as high for Latina women (CDC, 2012). This is confirmed by social media, primarily directed at African American males. In regards to the African American women, personal beliefs, cultural practices, and social norms act as a backdrop in determining the risk behavior of acquiring HIV/AIDs. This study serves to address the need for prevention strategies among single African American women of 18-22 years of age in college from the middle socioeconomic class. The subjects for the study...

Words: 1895 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

New York City African Americans with Hiv

...New York City higher rate of HIV infection of African - American women In New York City there’s an alarming rate of African - American women at high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. It’s unfortunate that amongst New York City unlimited diverse population, the African-American woman have steadily and continue to become affected with the HIV virus. Even though nowadays medication has shown improvement to treating HIV, more needed towards the prevention of becoming HIV-positive. Numerous factors must be addressed, and educational programs becoming readily available to the urban modern lifestyle’s that African American as well Women of all ethnicity partake. Change begins with acknowledgement and understandings. History of HIV/AIDS Over 33 million people around the world are infected with AIDS or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Of which over a million people are infected with AIDS in the United States. At first, AIDS in the United States was considered a white gay man’s disease. In fact, AIDS was once referred to as “The Gay Plague” (Shilts, 1987). However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2005 that women now make up 26 percent of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. African American women are infected at even higher rates than Women of other racial and ethnic groups. In 2005, close to 127,000 women were living with HIV/AIDS. Black women made up 64 percent of those women living with HIV/AIDS. In 2004, HIV was the leading cause of death for black...

Words: 556 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Hiv/Aids Among African-American Population

...heard about HIV/AIDS and no one was aware of the devastating effects the infection could pose on human health .Now, in 2012 the situation is completely different HIV/AIDS epidemic has become one of the greatest threat for human health and development. The AIDS epidemic has no borders and has spread all over the world affecting people regardless of age, gender, race, location, religion or sexual orientation. The first case of AIDS was reported in 1981 in Los Angeles, California and 1 month later 26 more cases of Kaposi Sarcoma in young homosexual men in New York and California were reported reports of cases continued to rise. In retrospect sporadic cases may have occurred in the United States and other parts of the world as much as 2 decades earlier but the worldwide epidemic became apparent in the 80’s. Since the epidemic began in 1980, an estimated 1,129,127 people in the USA have been diagnosed with AIDS. The number of people living with HIV rose from around 8 million in 1990 to 34 million by the end of 2010. The overall growth of the epidemic has stabilized in recent years and the annual number of new HIV infections has steadily declined. Today, many scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment and we understand much more about the condition. There are laws to protect people against HIV despite this; stigma and discrimination remain a reality because people are ignorant and negligent about various aspects of HIV especially protecting themselves and others from HIV. This was...

Words: 784 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

African American Women and Contraceptive Use

...Introduction From its origin, HIV/AIDS has been defined as a sexually transmitted disease associated primarily with white homosexual men. In fact, African Americans are the racial/ethnic group that are mostly influenced by HIV/AIDs. According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, by the end of 2008, an estimated 240,627 blacks with and AIDs diagnosis has died in the United States (CDC, 2012). Contrary to the evident statistics affecting the African American population as a whole, there remains a small amount of research studies, dedicated towards HIV/AIDs healthcare promotion and prevention strategies specifically designed for the African American women. However, there is a large proportion of African American women affected by HIV/AIDs. In 2009, black women accounts for 30% of the new estimations of HIV infections among blacks. The rate for HIV infections as compared to other populations is 15 times more than white women, and three times as high for Latina women (CDC, 2012). This is confirmed by social media, primarily directed at African American males. In regards to the African American women, personal beliefs, cultural practices, and social norms act as a backdrop in determining the risk behavior of acquiring HIV/AIDs. This study serves to address the need for prevention strategies among single African American women of 18-22 years of age in college from the middle socioeconomic class. The subjects for the study are voluntary and motivated to learn with...

Words: 2634 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Vulnerable Population Essay

...Identification Over the years, HIV has killed millions of people around the world. African Americans living in the United States represent one of the groups that are adversely affected by HIV. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) refers to a virus that attacks one’s immune system which represents the natural defense system of a human body. When this defense system becomes weak, the body becomes susceptible to various diseases and infections. The virus that attacks the immune system as well as the infection that affects the body as a result of the weak immune system is called HIV. In 2014 alone, 5,128 African American women were diagnosed with HIV compared to 1,483 white women and 1,350 Latino/Hispanic women in the USA (CDC, 2016). This study is going to investigate the problem of HIV among this vulnerable population. The study will also investigate the risk factors of HIV among this population. Finally, the study is going to discuss the nursing implications. Problems, Susceptibility, Exposures and Frequency An earlier report by Global-Campaign in 2006 indicated that of the total population of the United States, African Americans only account for 13 percent. However, African Americans account for more than half of all the new HIV cases in the U.S. especially the women, making them a vulnerable community (Ragsdale-Hearns, 2012). This high frequency rates among them is due to various problems and high exposures to HIV/AIDS. For instance, African American heavily inhabited areas in...

Words: 2298 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Hierarchical Diffusion of Hiv/Aids in Ohio

...examining the various maps on page 11 of our text, it’s clear that the HIV/AIDS spread has been more prevalent in urban areas of Ohio (Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, CIncinnati). These urban areas act as the core-periphery for various regions of Ohio, and the rural areas see weaker cultural attributes as we move further away from the central points of these regions. The city of Columbus boosts a large population of 298,165 and is a college town (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/3915000.html.). Columbus also is home to many corporations, such as JP Morgan Chase, Huntington Bank, Victoria’s Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch. There also appears a lack of educated workers to meet the city’s high demand for engineers (http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/09/18/forbes-opportunity-cities-19-places-where-it-may-be-easier-to-make-your-mark/.). Other urban cities with large numbers of HIV/AIDs case include: Dayton (2014 estimated population: 141,003), Cleveland (389,521), and Toledo (281,031), CIncinnati (298,165) (www.census.gov.). When I examined the figures related to poverty, I discovered the U.S. has 14.5%, while those in poverty in CIncinnati are 30.4%, Toledo 27.2%, and Cleveland 35.4%. I also noticed higher rates of African-Americans in these cities compared to the U.S. figure of 13.2%. Cincinnati has an African-American population of 44.8%, Toledo 27.2%, Cleveland at 53.3%. To understand how the higher HIV/AIDs rate correspond to poverty, race and other factors, I had to...

Words: 827 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Demographic Paper

...final stage for the HIV disease. AIDS is one of the leading causes of death among people in the United States as well as the rest of the world. African Americans are the ethnic group that has been most affected by HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “African Americans have the most severe burden of HIV of all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Compared with other races and ethnicities, African Americans account for a higher proportion of HIV infections at all stages of disease-from new infections to deaths”. Most people assume that AIDS is merely a sexually transmitted disease, but in reality it is so much more. In our community hospital there is an increasing amount of cases of AIDS cases within the African American population. We will be discussing the general impact that changing demographics may have on the health care market, why and how changes in the demographics of this population will affect health care, and how a chronic disease wellness program may affect the costs for this demographic. There are many health care related challenges as well as marketing needs for the African American population that will also be presented. There is a variety of things that the individual patient, the community, and society as a whole can do to address the many challenges the African American population affected by AIDS have to face. There are a number of factors that contribute to the vulnerability of the African American community to AIDS. According...

Words: 1295 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Sti/Hiv

...Interventions to Decrease the HIV/STI Risk Behaviors of African American Youth: Can We Control Future Trends? Beatrice Simiyu Capstone Project Dr. Bruce Johnson    Abstract As a result of the need to recognize successful human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) interventions tailored for African American youth, a literature review of six HIV/STI randomized controlled trials interventions targeting African American youth conducted in the United States were evaluated. A comparative analysis was used; the settings, procedures and outcomes of the different interventions targeting African American youth were compared, contrasted and combined to ultimately identify trends that are likely to initiate and possibly sustain change in HIV/STI risk behaviors among African American youth who are a vulnerable group. Variables were evaluated by the various intervention impacts on reducing sexual risk behaviors by an indication of a delay in first sexual intercourse, a decline in the number of sex partners and frequency of sex, and increase in condom use and a reduction in positive STI outcomes. Outcomes were used to facilitate identification of public health strategies that might be most beneficial in targeting African American youth and pinpoint what manner current public health strategies neglects to focus on their needs. The research and practice implications of the findings imply that enhancing future HIV/STI targeting African American youth necessitates...

Words: 11204 - Pages: 45

Free Essay

Hiv/Aids

...African Americans with HIV/AIDS African American with HIV/AIDS One of the most important issues in an individual’s life is their health. The question that many individuals are wondering is how many different diseases are affecting millions of individuals throughout the world? These sometimes harmful diseases are affecting new born, young children, teens, adults, and elderly. Some of these diseases syndromes, disorders, and ect are curable and others can’t be cured which is only increasing the death rate around the world. According to science and health observations there are over 100,000 human diseases that have been discovered throughout the world. HIV/AIDS are the second most deadly diseases out in the world. Scientists believe that HIV came from a particular kind of chimpanzee in Western African. Scientists also believe humans came in contact with HIV as early as the 1800s because individuals used hunting as survival skills and a way of living. They ate food that was infected by HIV that soon was discovered as a harmful disease. Decades later the virus slowly spread across African and later into many other parts of the world infecting thousand and then millions. HIV/AIDS is an epidemic that affects both men and woman of all ages. In 1985 scientist discovered the human immunodeficiency virus which is also known as HIV. HIV is a virus that attacks the human body’s immune system. It also affects the blood cells within an individual’s body (lymphocytes) and cells of the...

Words: 803 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Hiv in Youth

...HIV Saad Niazi HCS/245 JUNE 19, 2012 Margraet Latham HIV In this paper we will discuss several components about the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or better known as (H.I.V.). Some of the questions answered today are, How is (HIV) spread, once infected with the disease can it be cured and if not cured how well is it managed, We will also look at the beginning of the diseases life, what demographics are the most affected, the future of the disease and how much as a global community we have spent to combat (HIV). History (HIV) was first clinically observed in its most advanced form as Autoimmune Deficiency Syndrome better known as (AIDS) IN 1981. The first cases were a cluster of people who were using drugs intravenously and gay men with no known causes of impaired immunity showed symptoms of a rare and opportunistic pneumonia infection that presents itself when the immune system is compromised. Not too long after gay men started to develop Kaposi’s sarcoma a rare form of skin cancer. There were starting to be more and more cases of Kaposi’s sarcoma and pneumonia popping up all over the country. The spike in cases caused the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to form a task force. In the beginning the (CDC) did not have a name for the disease, the (CDC) often referred to it by associated diseases for example, lympadenopathy the original name of (HIV). The general media had coined the term GRID which stood for Gay Related Immunodeficiency...

Words: 1165 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Sexually Transmitted Disease Research Paper

...not cured, include HPV, herpes and HIV. While HIV treatment is changing into more widely offered globally, such treatment still eludes many people living within the world’s poorest communities. Health care systems in several developing countries struggle to produce even basic health services. although more folks have started HIV care and treatment within the past few years, there are still several challenges; not solely is medication usually unavailable in some places, however there aren't certain amount of numbers of health care suppliers trained to help clients prevent HIV or STIs or to treat or counsel men and ladies living with HIV or AIDS. in addition, physicians usually discriminate against people living with HIV and continue the stigma surrounding HIV in their workplaces and...

Words: 673 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Aids in the United States

...Cultural and Disease Paper AIDS in the United States There exist deadly diseases which continue to pollute the citizens of the United States. It is essential because each citizen must be enlightened of the circumstances to channel it and at this present time there is absolutely no solution to the problem. The epidemic I am conveying of is AIDS. AIDS does not at all show prejudice in addition to all to everyone is exposed to the disease. The Center for Disease Control in 1981 transferred out their report advertising abnormal deaths and outbreaks (Begley, etal, 2001). In March 1981 there existed about eight instances reported of a contentious form of Kapos’s Sarcomi arrived in New York. In the article it spoke about five homosexual men that had come down with an unusual parasitic lung infection called Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. About the same time there was an increase of Kaposi’s Sarcomi that was a rare form of benign cancer which was for the most part detected in older people. A while after the report outside of the Centers for Disease Control a task force was arranged in order to examine the abnormal increase of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and additional frequent life threatening opportunistic infections (AVERT, 2010). The New disease there was very little known about it, and it seems to be affecting the gay population. At first in the beginning it was a profuse belief around this disease that exist later explain inaccurate. A peculiar assumption was made in...

Words: 1189 - Pages: 5