Black women continue to be diagnosed with HIV at disproportionately high rates relative to white and Hispanic/Latina women.
What We Know:
- Rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among all women have declined since 2010, but rates among black women remain higher than do those among white women.
- In 2016, an estimate of 3,900 of 4,200 incident HIV infections among black women would not have occurred if the incidence for black women were the same as for white women.
- Recent progress on new HIV diagnoses decrease by 21 percent from 2010 to 2016, black women still accounted for 6 in 10 new HIV infections among women. In other words, HIV infections among black and white women would have been 75 percent lower in 2010 a 70 percent lower in 2016 if rates of the new HIV infections were the same between white and black women.
- Reducing racial disparities among women is needed to achieve broader HIV control goals. Furthermore, applying tailored stratagem to reduce HIV incidence in black women and their partners are important elements to achieving health equity.
- A CDC report said, “African American women are hit hardest by HIV as the rate of diagnosis is 15 times as high as that of white women, and almost five times that of Latino women. In fact, HIV/AIDS-related illness is among the leading causes of death for black women age 25-34.”
There are a number of challenges that contribute to the epidemic among black people, including higher rates for African Americans who lack access to health care. The CDC said, to help reduce this toll, we are working to remind black women that they have the power to learn their HIV status, protect themselves from this disease, and take charge of their health.
