Rising national rates of HIV infection and AIDS among minorities have spurred the District of Columbia, the federal government, and others to provide funding to a more diverse selection of local health care organizations. A recent survey of Baltimore, Dallas, Miami, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles found that 30 percent of young African-American homosexuals in those cities are infected with HIV. In D.C., currently only statistics on AIDS cases are recorded, but beginning in fiscal year 2002, HIV infections will also be tracked. The soaring national rate of infection among African Americans spurred the Congressional Black Congress to persuade the Clinton administration to increase federal AIDS funding in 1998 for minority health and aid organizations. As a result, federal funding was increased from $245 million last year to $350 million in 2001. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, there were 40,000 new HIV cases in 1999. Of the 12,000 infections among women, 65 percent were among African-American women, while half of the 28,000 infections among men were among African Americans.

Other CDC News for March 15, 2001

Effectiveness of the Direct Observation Component of DOTS for Tuberculosis: a Randomized Controlled Trial in Pakistan Maker Yielding Patent in Africa for AIDS Drug Antiviral Cocktails Cut Cost of Treating Patients With HIV South Africa Resists Call for AIDS Emergency	As AIDS Grows For Minorities, So Does Funding; Groups Assisting City's Blacks, Latinos Win Increased Support The Danger of Living "Down Low"; Black Men Who Hide Their Bisexuality Can Put Women at Risk A New AIDS Strategy Brazil to Launch AIDS Vaccine Human Trials in April
Mogae Warns Botswana Faces Extinction From AIDS