National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day --- February 7, 2011

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day --- February 7, 2011
Weekly
February 4, 2011 / 60(04);93

February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, an observance intended to raise awareness of the disproportionate impact of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on the black population in the United States and to encourage prevention measures, such as HIV testing. Estimates of HIV incidence for 2006 indicated that blacks had a rate of 83.7 per 100,000 population, compared with 11.5 for whites (1). Two of the three goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy are to reduce new HIV infections and HIV disparities (2).

In 2006, male-to-male sexual contact was associated with an estimated 63% of new HIV infections among black males (3). Among black females, high-risk heterosexual contact was associated with an estimated 83% of new infections (3). Data from CDC's National HIV Behavioral System show that, in 2008, 59% of HIV-infected black men who have sex with men (MSM) did not know they were infected, compared with 26% of white MSM (4).

Additional information regarding National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is available at http://www.cdc.gov/features/blackhivaidsawareness. Additional information regarding blacks and HIV/AIDS is available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/index.htm.

References
1.Hall I, Song R, Rhodes P, et al. Estimation of HIV incidence in the United States. JAMA 2008;300:520--9.
2.Office of National AIDS Policy. National HIV/AIDS strategy. Washington, DC: Office of National AIDS Policy; 2010. Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/onap/nhas. Accessed November 1, 2010.
3.CDC. Subpopulation estimates from the HIV incidence surveillance system---United States, 2006. MMWR 2008;57:985--9. [Subpopulation Estimates from the HIV Incidence Surveillance System --- United States, 2006]
4.CDC. Prevalence and awareness of HIV infection among men who have sex with men---21 cities, United States, 2008. MMWR 2010; 59:1201--7. [Prevalence and Awareness of HIV Infection Among Men Who Have Sex With Men --- 21 Cities, United States, 2008]

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National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day --- February 7, 2011