Archived
June, 2007 |
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Hispanic Health Program
MINORITY AIDS INITIATIVE
WHAT IS THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM?
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Recent trends show
that the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to disproportionately affect
the health of Hispanics, especially women and youth. |
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In 2001, 19% of the
42,983 persons reported with AIDS were Hispanic. |
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In 2001, from 35
states and 4 territories with name-based HIV reporting, 19% of the
35,032 persons reported with HIV were Hispanic. |
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In 2001, 15% of
children under 13 reported in the U.S. with AIDS and 22% of children
under 13 reported in the HIV reporting areas with HIV were Hispanic. |
To be successful, HIV
prevention must address the diverse communities affected by the HIV
epidemic. Prevention efforts must focus on groups at greatest risk,
particularly young African Americans and Hispanics. Programs must
be relevant to the lives of the target population, i.e. appropriate
to age, culture, community standards, and language. They must be
designed with input from the affected community and delivered by
organizations and people with credibility in that community. |
WHAT HAS CDC
ACCOMPLISHED?
Since 1999, CDC has
received funding through the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) to enhance
efforts to prevent HIV in communities of color. CDC supports
community-based programs to prevent HIV and capacity- building programs to
assist community-based organizations (CBOs); targets education efforts to
raise awareness of the importance of HIV testing; supplements surveillance
activities to define the magnitude of the epidemic in minority
communities; and maintains research to develop and refine prevention
programs.
Examples of programs in action: |
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CDC funds a number of CBOs
that focus on Hispanics. The Hispanic Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic
AIDS Forum receive funds under Program Announcement 00100, Community-Based
Strategies to Increase HIV Testing of Persons at High- Risk in Communities
of Color, to implement innovative strategies to increase the number of
high-risk persons and their sex or needle-sharing partners in communities
of color who receive HIV prevention counseling, testing, and referral
services. These innovative strategies are intended to increase the number
of high-risk persons who get tested for HIV and learn their HIV status. |
WHAT ARE THE NEXT
STEPS?
CDC continues to build
the capacity of local communities to prevent HIV. In particular, CDC will
continue to provide financial and technical assistance to programs
addressing populations at high risk for HIV infection. Continued efforts
are needed to refine prevention approaches, disseminate effective
strategies to communities in need, and expand effective programs to
additional sites. CDC is evaluating its MAI programs to assess the
outcomes of this effort and guide future HIV prevention efforts.
Back to the Hispanic/Latino Populations Page
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