Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Washington Blade - December 10, 2004
Dyana Bagby
In an analysis of data from 32 states released on World AIDS Day, the CDC recorded a 5 percent increase in HIV/AIDS diagnoses among men, largely due to men having sex with men, Dr. Ronald O. Valdiserri, director of the CDC's HIV/AIDS prevention program, said during a teleconference with reporters.
Last December, a CDC report on data from 29 states from 1999 to 2002 noted a 17 percent increase in HIV/AIDS diagnoses among gay men.
During the course of the new study, 125,800 people were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the 32 states. More than half of the diagnoses were among African Americans, although they account for only 13 percent of the population in the 32 states, Valdiserri said.
In comparison, 32 percent of the diagnoses were among whites and 15 percent were among Latinos, who represented 72 percent and 11 percent, respectively, of the population in these states, he said.
The statistics, part of the CDC's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, noted that in 2003, the highest rate of HIV/AIDS diagnosis was for African-American males. That rate was nearly seven times the rate for white males, and nearly three times the rate for Latino males, Valdiserri said.
In addition, a continued increase in HIV/AIDS among gay men - coupled with the release last week of a CDC study reporting rising rates of syphilis among gay men - means more health officials and community organizations need to pay close attention to the gay male population, Valdiserri said.
"We have to, as a society, continue to invest resources in developing interventions that reflect the realities of where we are in 2004," he said.
In the same Dec. 1 report, the CDC said the rate of African-American women diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 2003 was 53 per 100,000, a rate more than 18 times the rate among white women and almost five times higher than among Latina women.
Also in 2003, the rate among African-American men was 103.4 per 100,000, almost seven times higher than white men and nearly three times the rate of Latino men.
There are now more than 39 million people living with HIV in the world, and almost half are women.
The CDC estimates there are between 850,000 to 950,000 people in the U.S. living with HIV, and about 200,000 don't know they are infected. The CDC also estimates there are about 40,000 new HIV infections annually in the U.S.
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