STD Rates Higher In African Americans Get Tested Today
It's African American History Month and while reflecting about all of the great things that African Americans have accomplished over the years lets also look towards the future and talk about the growing issues with STDs and HIV.
Online, February 10, 2011 (Newswire.com) - In the United States the African American community has been hit harder then any other ethnic group in the country regarding STD and HIV infection rates. Showing a growing need for accessible health care for all as well as low cost testing and treatment options and freely available knowledge.
African Americans, by the end of 2007, accounted for 46% of HIV infections in the US. In 2006 65% of new infections were that of black men which was 6 times higher then white men and just about 3 times higher then Hispanics. In the same year HIV infections in black women were almost 15 times higher then infections in white women and about 4 times higher then in Hispanic women creating the highest infection rates for any ethnic group in the United States.
The Center of Disease Controls statistics quote that "at some point in their lifetimes, 1 in 16 black men will be diagnosed with HIV infection, as well 1 in 30 black women." These types of numbers are very high for the US and need to be addressed.
Reasons, according to the CDC, for these high HIV infection rates include many aspects such as lower incomes, risky sexual behavior like multiple partners without protection, injection drug use, and lack of quality health care. Stigma also puts many African Americans at risk because some people are afraid to get tested choosing to continue with high risk behavior without getting tested. Which all need to be tackled, and hard.
STDs statistics are also higher in African American then most other ethnic groups in the US because of many of the same aspects. In all of these cases lack of testing and lack of knowledge are the biggest problems to deal with of the bat as well as changing the way people across the country think about STDs and HIV.
It's African American history month and being so lets use this time to spread the word and get as many people tested as possible to help curb this trend of infections. Your STD Help has teamed up with clinics all across the country that are willing to give free or low cost testing options for HIV as well as common STDs
Visit the site for more information as well as a list of free and low income clinics to get tested at.
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Tags: AIDS, black history month, Health, HIV, STDs
