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African-American Women and STIsBy Gary Bell March 31, 2010 Recent news has not been kind about women and girls of color and their sexual health. In 2008, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study reported that almost one-half of adolescent black females were infected with at least on STI (Sexually Transmitted Infection). Now, new evidence has further documented the impact of STIs on women and girls of color. According to the CDC, 48 percent of black women between ages 14 and 49 have the virus which causes genital herpes. Blacks in general are more than three times as likely as whites to have herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) (39.2 percent vs. 12.3 percent). Biological factors make women more susceptible to genital herpes than men. American women in general are nearly twice as likely as men to be infected (21 percent vs. 11 percent). Moreover, up to 80 percent of genital herpes infections in the United States are undiagnosed. The news is no better on the local front. A recent report from the Philadelphia Department of Public Health revealed a dramatic 238% increase in primary and secondary cases of Syphilis in females. Many of the cases in females occurred in adolescents and young adults aged 15-24 years old. The high rates of genital herpes infections and syphilis, as well as other STIs among women of color, may contribute toward the high rate of HIV in the black community by making transmission easier. In 2007, more than 25% people infected with HIV in the United States were among women and girls aged 13 years and older. More than 278,000 women and adolescent girls in this country are living with HIV. For female adults and adolescents, the rate of HIV/AIDS diagnoses for black females was nearly 20 times as high as the rate for white females and nearly 4 times as high as the rate for Hispanic/Latino females. Last year, the CDC implemented new guidelines to encourage HIV testing to be a part of routine medical care. Clearly, sexually transmitted infection screening should also be a part of this routine care. Significant progress in reducing the spread of HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa has been made by preventing, diagnosing and treating STIs. It's time we apply these priorities in this country, especially in women and girls of color.
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Transition to Hope This year marks Bell's 14th as the executive director of the Philadelphia-based BEBASHI (Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health), founded in 1985 as the nation's first AIDS organization serving African Americans with HIV. Bell has been widely praised, not only for increasing funding and accountability at a time when HIV donations have plummeted, but also for launching such innovative programs as a women's initiative, prison-discharge planning, and, most recently, a diabetes intervention. More About Gary: Profile Subscribe to Gary's Blog:
Recent Posts:
May 16, 2013 - HPV Vaccination -- A Wasted Resource for African Americans? A Blog Entry by Gary Bell
February 1, 2013 - The Opioid Solution and HIV: From the Frying Pan Into the Fire -- A Blog Entry by Dave R. December 24, 2012 - Compulsory Sexual Education: A Blog Entry by Gary Bell December 3, 2012 - World AIDS Day 2012 -- A Blog Entry by Gary Bell November 13, 2012 - Preventing HIV Transmission With Youth Infected at Birth: A Blog Entry by Gary Bell A Brief Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by TheBody.com's bloggers are entirely their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheBody.com itself. |
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