Announcement: National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day — February 7, 2012

February 7, 2012, is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, an observance intended to raise awareness of and encourage action to reduce the disproportionate impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) on the black population in the United States. In 2009, compared with other races and ethnicities, blacks had the highest HIV prevalence (1) and incidence (2), with an estimated HIV incidence of 69.9 per 100,000 population, compared with 9.1 for whites. Two of the three goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy are to reduce HIV incidence and HIV-related disparities (3).

In 2009, among black females, heterosexual contact with a person known to have or to be at high risk for HIV infection was associated with an estimated 84% of new infections (2). In 2009, among black males, male-to-male sexual contact was associated with an estimated 73% of new infections. From 2006 to 2009, new infections among young black men who have sex with men increased 48% (2).

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is an opportunity to increase HIV prevention activities for blacks, such as HIV testing, and for persons with HIV, linkage to and retention in effective HIV medical care that reduces HIV transmission (4). Additional information about National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is available at http://www.cdc.gov/features/blackhivaidsawareness. Additional information regarding blacks and HIV/AIDS is available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/index.htm.

References

1. CDC. Diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS in the United States and dependent areas, 2009. HIV surveillance report, Volume 21. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2011. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/surveillance/resources/reports/2009report/index.htm. Accessed January 25, 2012.
2. Prejean J, Song R, Hernandez A, et al. Estimated HIV incidence in the United States, 2006–2009. PLoS ONE 2011;6(8):e17502. Available at http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0017502. Accessed January 26, 2012.
3. White House Office of National AIDS Policy. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States. Washington, DC: White House Office of National AIDS Policy; 2010. Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/onap. Accessed January 25, 2012.
4. CDC. Vital signs: HIV prevention through care and treatment—United States. MMWR 2011;60:1618–23.