H.I.V. Diagnosis Rates Continue to Rise Among Young Men, African-Americans

New York Times ^ | June 27, 2008 | David Tuller

[Zakeet]

Diagnoses of H.I.V. and AIDS in men who have sex with men rose significantly between 2001 and 2006 while declining in other demographic groups, the federal Centers for Disease Control reported Thursday.

The increase in diagnoses was especially high among males between the ages of 13 and 24, with an annual increase of 12.4 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for men overall. The annual increase was still higher among young African-American men who have sex with men, nearly 15 percent.

Among African-American men of all ages who have sex with men, the annual increase in diagnoses was 1.9 percent.

Experts said yesterday that the new statistics were an ominous -- but not necessarily surprising -- indicator that the epidemic continues to flourish among gay men more than 25 years after it began.

“It’s a grim report,” said Dr. Ronald Stall, an epidemiologist and professor of public health at the University of Pittsburgh. “It means roughly speaking that about half of the American AIDS epidemic is occurring among a few percent of the adult population. And the terrible trends we’re seeing among white gay men are even amplified further among minority men.”

[Snip]

Jennifer Hecht, education director at the Stop AIDS Project in San Francisco, said that lack of access to information was a key factor in the increase in infection rates.

“In a lot of ways this is connected to the administration’s policy of emphasizing abstinence-only education,” she said. “And the high rates we see among black men and other minorities indicate that it’s very much connected to larger issues like poverty and racism.”

[happygrl]

ROTF!!!

Wait, I might not want to be rolling on the floor on this thread.

Eeewwww....

[happygrl]

ROTF!!!

Wait, I might not want to be rolling on the floor on this thread.

Eeewwww....

[palomonte]

all one needs to do is sit down and keep one’s mouth shut...problem solved.