U.S. Black Women "Unaware" of HIV Risk

AIDS is the leading cause of mortality for black women ages 24-35 in the United States and more must be done to fight it, say AIDS advocates.

"Part of what's staggering is that most Americans, including young women, and young black women in particular, are unaware of this fact," said Dr. Judith Auerbach, director of public policy for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). "Part of what's so shocking is the disproportionate increase in rates, and specifically among African-American women, such that it leads to death."

The high mortality rate suggests that young black women are being diagnosed later in the disease process, possibly due to stigma about either the disease itself or how their partner contracted it, Auerbach said. The biggest HIV infection route for women is heterosexual sex, according to CDC. But in some cases, the women's male partners secretly have unprotected sex with men, too.

"Unfortunately, because of stigma ... a lot of African-American women don't realize they're at risk, don't believe that they're at risk, or don't want to be at risk," said Phill Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS Institute. "So they pretend that they're not at risk."

Another reason for high mortality may be that treatment funds are limited. In Alabama, for instance, there is not enough money to provide state-subsidized treatment to the 1,100 people needing it. Nor do remotely located clients have public funding for transportation to medical care.

"We have very limited services," said Jane Cheeks, Alabama's AIDS director. "In rural areas, trying to get people into medical care, or into their appointments, is sometimes a problem," she said. "So we have to depend on any kind of transportation, anything that we can, to get people into clinics."

Back to other news for February 6, 2006