Although we frequently have jokes and kid here on Bossip.com, we take some matters very seriously. Today, we want all of our readers to be informed that it is World AIDS Day. There are a few facts under the hood that everyone in our community should be aware of…
1.Today, women account for one out of every four new HIV cases in the U.S. Of these newly infected women, about two out of three are African-American. Most of these women got HIV from having sex with a man. AIDS is now the leading cause of death for African-American women ages 25-34. African-American women are over 21 times as likely to die from HIV/AIDS as non-Hispanic white women.
2. There are a myriad of social and economic factors that result in higher levels of sexual HIV transmission among black Americans. However, higher levels of STDs among African-Americans, also shaped by social and economic factors, in turn facilitate sexual transmission of HIV. Black Americans have 8 times the level of Chlamydia, and 18 times the level of gonorrhea compared to white Americans.
3. A significant proportion of African-Americans do not blame the spread of HIV on risky sexual behavior, but instead hold the government responsible. 48% of African-Americans surveyed by Oregon State University researchers between 2002 and 2003 believed that HIV was a man-made virus. Over half (53%) believed that there was a cure for AIDS that was being withheld from the poor, and 27% thought AIDS was produced in a government laboratory. 12% thought that HIV was created and spread by the CIA and 15% thought it was a form of genocide against blacks
4. A 2009 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation discovered over a fifth of African-Americans cite HIV/AIDS as the most urgent health problem facing the US, significantly higher than the 6% average. (It should be noted that both figures have declined dramatically since as recently as 2004.) In another survey, four-fifths of African-Americans believed that government spending on the disease domestically was insufficient. They also reported experiencing the highest levels of HIV-related stigma, were the most aware about transmission routes, were the most likely to have been tested, and were the ethnic group that was the most likely to say that they knew someone who was living with HIV or had died of AIDS
Please get tested, be aware, and remember to practice safe sex. Ladies, make those dudes STRAP UP!!!