HIV/AIDS

Minority Women's Health > African Americans > Health Topics > HIV/AIDS

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV weakens your immune system, which makes it hard for your body to fight off other health problems that it could normally resist. As time goes on, your body becomes less able to fight off diseases.

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.

Take these steps to protect yourself:

Use latex condoms every time you have any kind of sex (vaginal, oral, or anal).
If you use drugs and cannot or will not stop injecting drugs, use new, sterile syringes to prepare and inject drugs.
If you're getting a tattoo or having your body pierced, ask what procedures they use to prevent the spread of HIV. If they do not use new, sterilized, or disinfected equipment, go somewhere else.

Publications

Women and HIV/AIDS - Womenshealth.gov created the Women and HIV/AIDS web page to provide women and their loved ones with resources and information they can use to get help. This web page contains links to HIV/AIDS publications about prevention, testing, living with the disease, opportunistic infections, care, HIV/AIDS and pregnancy, legislation and rights, financial assistance, research and clinical trials, personal stories, and AIDS worldwide.
http://www.womenshealth.gov/HIV/
African Americans: Answers about HIV Vaccine Research - This fact sheet answers commonly asked questions about the HIV vaccine and African Americans.
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/healthscience/healthtopics/HIVAIDS/PDF/NIAID_HVAD_AA_FS...
Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS among African Americans - This fact sheet discusses HIV/AIDS among African-Americans. In the United States, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a health crisis for African Americans. At all stages of HIV/AIDS—from infection with HIV to death with AIDS—blacks (including African Americans) are disproportionately affected compared with members of other races and ethnicities
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/resources/factsheets/aa.htm
HIV Infection in Minority Populations - This fact sheet addresses the growing number of reported AIDS cases in minority communities, clinical research that has been done, and current epidemiological research.
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/Minor.htm
HIV Infection In Women - AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death for women aged 25 to 44 in the United States. This fact sheet addresses the special concerns that women with HIV face.
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/womenhiv.htm
HIV/AIDS Among African Americans - This publication contains statistical information about the population of African Americans infected with HIV/AIDS in the United States. Also discussed are the interrelated challenges to prevention in African American communities.
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/resources/factsheets/aa.htm
African Americans and HIV/AIDS (Copyright © KFF) - The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) reports that African Americans have been greatly affected by HIV/AIDS since the start of the epidemic. This report provides statistical information on the demographics of infected individuals and provides an explanation for why a disproportionate concentration of HIV/AIDS among African Americans exists.
http://www.kff.org/hivaids/upload/6089-03.pdf
Getting Real: Black Women Taking Charge in the Fight Against AIDS (Copyright © BAI) - This booklet provides statistics on HIV/AIDS occurrence in the African American community and information regarding the current state of AIDS among black women in an easy-to-read format.
http://www.blackaids.org/image_uploads/article_170/05%20women.pdf

Organizations

= Indicates Federal Resources

Current as of December 2007