Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1990. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc.; November 5, 1990
Among the nation's 1.8 million Indians and Alaska Natives, 157 AIDS cases were reported as of Dec. 31, 1989, by the Federal Centers for Disease Control, said George Conway, an epidemiologist with the Atlanta-based organization.
That 9.2 per 100,000 rate compares to the 47.4 per 100,000 national AIDS rate for other ethnic groups, Conway said. "The frequency of having AIDS for Alaska Natives and Native American people has been about one-fifth that for other people," Conway told the Alaska Federation of Natives at its annual meeting here.
However, the growth rate for Native American and Alaska native AIDS is climbing dramatically, he said. Between 1988 and 1989, new AIDS cases among natives nearly doubled, to 61 from 32.
Conway also cautioned that hospitals and clinics may be under-reporting AIDS among the native populations because native patients are sometimes listed in the wrong ethnic category.
Some 24,000 blood specimens from Native Americans, including 1,600 from Alaska natives, have been tested so far in the study, Conway said. So far, the HIV-positive rate for all natives has been about one in 1,000, he said. But he cautioned that the numbers are preliminary.
The Centers for Disease Control has registered only nine full-blown AIDS cases among Alaska natives, he said. The Alaska Native Health Board, with more recent data, has registered 11 cases, he said.
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