Educational campaigns and antiretroviral therapies (ART)-a cocktail of drugs to control HIV infection- have reduced the number of transmissions and deaths due to HIV and AIDS, but we are still a very long way to go before there is a cure. In the United States, people who are already infected are living longer due to the availability of ART and rates of transmission of new cases have plateaued after a few years of decline in the overall populace.
However, among African Americans, the statistics are alarming. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Blacks/African-Americans account for a higher proportion of new HIV diagnoses and people living with HIV, compared to other races/ethnicities. In 2017, blacks/African-Americans accounted for 13% of the US population but 43% (16,694) of the 38,739 new HIV diagnoses in the United States and dependent areas.”
One of the greatest challenges is that one in seven Blacks/African-Americans is unaware that they even have HIV, and thus do not take precautions to prevent transmission to others and also do not seek treatment. If you are unaware of your HIV status, you may schedule an appointment for a confidential HIV test at any of our convenient Primary Medical Care Center community clinics by visiting our website at www.primarymed.com or you call us at (305)751-1500 for our Miami-Dade clinic or (954)289-0000 for our Broward clinic.
Source: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/racialethnic/africanamericans/index.html