February 7, 2013:  Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) and this year’s theme is “I am my Brother/Sister’s Keeper: Fight HIV/AIDS.”  NBHAAD is focused on getting people educated, tested, involved and treated.

In the South, African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

• In Alabama, African Americans were only 26% of Alabama’s population in 2011 but 69% of new HIV diagnoses. Moreover, African Americans are diagnosed at a rate that is 7x higher than whites.  A staggering 78% of all HIV diagnosis in females are among African American females. (HIV Integrated Epidemiological Profile 2011)
• In Florida, Blacks accounted for 49% of total HIV diagnosis and 60% of AIDS case deaths in 2011, even though Blacks made up approximately 15% of Florida’s population. (HIV Among Blacks Fact Sheet)
• In Georgia, Blacks compromised 77% of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2009.  From 2000-2009, Black males were frequently diagnosed at a rate that was 5x that of white males and 3x that of Hispanic males. From 2000-2009, Blacks had an HIV death rate that was over 3x that of other racial/ethnic groups. (Basic Epidemiological Profile of HIV/AIDS)
• In Louisiana, 76% of new HIV diagnosis and 76% of new AIDS diagnosis were among African Americans in 2009. (Louisiana Public Health Institute)
• In Mississippi, African American males are 9x more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than white males. (Mississippi State Department of Health)  In 2010, African Americans only compromised 37% of Mississippi’s population, but made up 78% of new HIV infections. (The Lancet)
• In North Carolina, in 2011, African Americans represented 68% of all HIV diagnoses. (2011 HIV/STD Surveillance Report)
• In South Carolina, the HIV case rate among African-Americans is approximately 10x greater than whites.  African Americans make up only 28% of South Carolina’s population but 76% of recent HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Almost 7,000 African-American men in SC are living with HIV. (Maudlin Patch)
• In Tennessee, 57% of those diagnosed with HIV through the end of 2012, and 54% of HIV deaths, have been among African Americans even though African Americans only make up 17% of Tennessee’s population. In 2012, the HIV/AIDS case rate among African Americans was 9x that of whites. (WGNS Radio)
• In Texas, Blacks make up less than 12% of the state’s population but account for 40% of new HIV diagnoses and 38% of all people living with HIV in TX.  In 2011, black women were only 12% of Texas female population, but 58% of new HIV diagnoses among females. In 2011, the HIV rate among Black men  in Texas was 5x that of White men and 3x that of Hispanic men.  An estimated 17.5% of Black gay men & MSM are living with HIV. (Texas DSHS)
• Washington, D.C. had the highest diagnosis rate for Blacks in the US in 2010. (Kaiser Family Foundation)