Ironically, date falls just one day after birthday of late President Ronald Reagan, who tried dismissing disease.
National Black HIV/AIDs Awareness Day:
Our Community Can't Afford to Forget About Health Crisis
by Mychal Denzel Smith | TheLoop21
Today (Feb. 7) is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It’s an opportunity for us to bring further awareness to the grim statistics concerning Black people in the United States and the proliferation of the AIDS virus.
At only 14 percent of the total population, Black people make up almost half of those currently living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1 in 16 Black men will be diagnosed with HIV in his lifetime, along with 1 in 32 Black women. The disease hits hardest among gay and bisexual Black men, followed by heterosexual women.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, close to a quarter of a million Black people living in the U.S. have died from AIDS. We simply can’t talk about this issue enough. Failing to address all the contributing factors (poverty/access to healthcare/prevalence of other STDs) is not an option, but we must also ramp up efforts to educate people in regards to protection and prevention with more outreach programs that target those most affected.
Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21
National Black HIV/AIDs Awareness Day:
Our Community Can't Afford to Forget About Health Crisis
by Mychal Denzel Smith | TheLoop21
Today (Feb. 7) is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. It’s an opportunity for us to bring further awareness to the grim statistics concerning Black people in the United States and the proliferation of the AIDS virus.
At only 14 percent of the total population, Black people make up almost half of those currently living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1 in 16 Black men will be diagnosed with HIV in his lifetime, along with 1 in 32 Black women. The disease hits hardest among gay and bisexual Black men, followed by heterosexual women.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, close to a quarter of a million Black people living in the U.S. have died from AIDS. We simply can’t talk about this issue enough. Failing to address all the contributing factors (poverty/access to healthcare/prevalence of other STDs) is not an option, but we must also ramp up efforts to educate people in regards to protection and prevention with more outreach programs that target those most affected.
Read the Full Essay @ theLoop21
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