By Nancy Wilson

When African Americans discuss the challenges confronting their communities, citing issues from rising housing costs to raising teenagers, there is one that is impacting their family, friends and neighbors but rarely gets mentioned: HIV/AIDS. Silently, it is disproportionately devastating minority families and communities.

The data is stunning. African Americans are nearly 13% of the US population, but represent half of the AIDS cases. HIV has been the third leading cause of death among African Americans between the ages of 24 and 34, and among Black women in this age group it is the leading cause of death. These devastating trends take a toll on families and communities struggling with other socio-economic burdens.

Each year on World AIDS Day, focus returns to the global fight against the disease. Here in the United States,, the point needs to be emphasized that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is not over. The immediate problem in the US is addressing the spread of HIV/AIDS in African American, and other minority, communities.

Sometimes the numbers have to be put into starker terms for people to understand the actual impact on communities across the country. Because of HIV/AIDS, children are growing up without knowing their mothers or fathers; parents are losing their children; wives are losing husbands and vice versa. One of the real tragedies is that people are unwittingly spreading the virus because they are not aware of their own HIV status.

How do we stop this maddening cycle?

Part of the answer is to raise awareness of the issue and its impact among communities at risk and, to accomplish this, direct broader and more aggressive HIV/AIDS prevention messages to the audiences that need to hear them. Clearly, knowledge and understanding of the risks and impact of HIV/AIDS increases the likelihood that people will adopt safer behaviors.

The immediate reaction to this recommendation may be: education and HIV/AIDS awareness is what we have been doing for the last decade. Indeed, that is true. The decline of HIV/AIDS in the general population is a reflection of successful outreach and prevention. In the US, the annual number of new HIV infections has declined from the mid-1980s peak level of 150,000 to between 30,000 and 40,000 a year. While recent data documents this decrease of new HIV infections, the vast majority of data also indicates that there remains much work to be done.

But just as clearly, effective prevention messages are not reaching minority communities. Each year, African Americans are accounting for 50% of the new cases. African American communities struggle with fear, stigma and lingering conspiracy theories. However, even in the midst of this uncertainty, some things are crystal clear: HIV/AIDS is devastating the African-American community disproportionately. Yet, this killer is preventable with education. There are vast amounts of misinformation about HIV/AIDS in minority communities, and we need to replace the misinformation with the facts and the prevention messages that can save lives.

Many people are trying to do just that. Around the nation, business, civic and religious leaders have joined with entertainers to participate in the National HIV/AIDS Partnership (NHAP). NHAP seeks to increase HIV/AIDS awareness by uniting and empowering some of America’s most influential leaders to discuss HIV/AIDS where Americans work, live play and worship. NHAP’s objective is to increase HIV/AIDS awareness, dispel stigma, and serve as a voice for those impacted/threatened by HIV/AIDS. The organization is working to raise public awareness of the continuing HIV/AIDS threat in America, particularly in minority communities. On World AIDS Day, NHAP held its inaugural Red Ribbon Leadership Awards, honoring people who have worked behind the scenes to fight the spread of HIV/AIDs.

What people need to know most is that race and ethnicity are not the root risk factors for HIV/AIDS. For instance, researchers believe the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS within the African-American community points to ongoing and systemic health, socio-economic and social justice disparities in the US.

Understanding why African American communities are disproportionately infected with HIV/AIDS is a start. But we must follow-up with education about how to prevent contracting the disease. NHAP will help to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in African American communities, where immediate attention is needed.

(Nancy Wilson, an award winning actress and singer, is a member of the National HIV/AIDS Partnership).

 

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