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In the decades since AIDS was first diagnosed in a group of white males, the face of AIDS has grown progressively younger and darker. The incidence of AIDS in African Americans skyrocketed from 44 per 100,000 people in 1989 to 108 in 1993. On December 1, World AIDS Day, we confront a frightening challenge: AIDS still is the leading cause of death in African Americans aged 25 to 44. Over 60 percent of new AIDS cases, caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), occur among minority group members, and most are in African Americans. About 85 percent of children with HIV/AIDS are black or Hispanic.
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) urged then-President Bill Clinton to respond to the severe HIV/AIDS crisis enveloping racial minorities. As a result, President Clinton, the CBC and the Department of Health and Human Services announced special financial initiatives in 1998 aimed at reducing the disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS, especially among African Americans. This addresses testing, treatment and related issues such as substance abuse prevention and treatment, and mental health.
This support assisted many organizations that address HIV/AIDS in the African American community. These ranged from Harvard's Leading for Life Conferences, organized by African American AIDS activist Mario Cooper, to many other African American advocacy organizations, both grass-roots and academic. Even health maintenance organizations offered prevention and treatment programs.
Today, health disparities between African Americans and other Americans have been eliminated or nearly so in several critical AIDS areas. The AIDS death rate for blacks of all ages declined by 40 percent between 1996 and 1997 and continues to decline, although at a lower rate than the general population. |
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