y men in the U.S. during the n reality, AIDS had a disprohe very beginning. Representpeople accounted for 26% of
Africa, only four countries vative estimates of the HIV merica. Indeed, were Black untry, it would have the 16th eople living with HIV, with valing numerous countries in
approved by the Food and n to treat HIV infection was But a more effective class of , called protease inhibitors, he mid-1990s. Researchers ombining multiple classes limit the viral replication
on treatment was called etroviral Therapy (HAART). a has benefited from treats but not to the same extent as AIDS study observed. “Indeed, hat Black-white disparities cal outcomes have actually ART era…”
areness
public awareness increased “The AIDS-related death of in 1985 shocked the country creased AIDS awareness,” the d. ct resulted from the AIDS tennis great Arthur Ashe, one
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of only two men to win a Grand Slam tournament. Before his death in 1993, Ashe established a private foundation to fight AIDS. “Public awareness of the AIDS crisis, especially in Black communities, underwent a sea change in 1991, when basketball great Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson announced that he had tested HIV-positive. After his announcement, HIV testing rates in Black communities skyrocketed, as many Black Americans awoke to the reality that AIDS was not only a problem for gay men.” By then, however, AIDS had ravaged Black America. The proof is in the numbers. Although African-Americans represent 12.6 percent of the U.S. (13.6 percent when you include those who identify with more than one race), Blacks: • Account for 45 percent of new HIV infections • Represent 46 percent of people living with HIV • Represent 48 percent of all new AIDS diagnoses • Account for 57 percent of all HIV-related deaths Figures for some groups are even more staggering. Black women, for example, account for 61 percent of the HIV infections among women, nearly 15 times larger than the rate for white women. Blacks aged 13-19 are only 17 percent of U.S. teenagers, they represent 68 percent of all new AIDS diagnoses among teens. According to a five-city survey, 46 percent of gay and bisexual men were infected with HIV, compared to 21 percent of white men and 17 percent of Hispanics. Thanks to President Obama, the United States has put into place its first national AIDS strategy. Its vision: “The United States will become a place where HIV infections are rare and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or socio-economic circumstance, will have unfettered access to high quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination.” “As AIDS enters its fourth decade, there could be no more fitting tribute to the hundreds of thousands who have perished from this disease in the U.S. than to demonstrate that we have learned a lesson or two over the last 30 years,” Phill Wilson wrote in the institute report. “In 2011, we have an extraordinary new opportunity to conquer AIDS. Only bold wise action will get us where we need to go.”
the Houston area for over 80 years
“The epidemic in its early years was consistently portrayed as a problem for white gay men. Neither our national leaders, nor Black America itself, responded as they should have to the clear signs of an emerging health crisis among Black people.” Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute