Pubdate: Sat, 26 Feb 2005
Source: New York City Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2005 Newsday, Inc.
Contact: http://cf.newsday.com/newsdayemail/email.cfm
Website: http://www.nynewsday.com/news/printedition/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3362
Author: Jeff Donn
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

HIV INFECTION RATE AMONG BLACKS DOUBLES

BOSTON -- Blacks are contracting HIV at twice the rate they were in the 
late 1980s and early '90s, which researchers and AIDS prevention advocates 
attribute to drug addiction, poverty and poor access to health care, 
according to government statistics.

At the same time, the HIV infection rate among whites has held steady, 
causing alarm among some health officials who say the racial gap in the 
epidemic is widening.

Other troubling statistics indicate that almost half of all infected people 
in the United States who should be receiving HIV drugs are not getting them.

"It's incredibly disappointing," said Terje Anderson, director of the 
National Association of People With AIDS. "We just have a burgeoning 
epidemic in the African American community that is not being dealt with 
effectively."

The findings, released at the 12th Annual Retrovirus Conference in Boston 
Friday, showed an increase in the HIV infection rate from 1 percent to 2 
percent of blacks over a decade. White rates remained level at 0.2 percent, 
while the overall U.S. rate rose slightly from 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent.

The HIV rates were derived from the widely used National Health and 
Nutrition Examinations Surveys, which analyze a representative sample of 
U.S. households and contain the most complete HIV data in the country. 
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared 
1988-1994 data with figures from 1999-2002.

However, health officials believe the numbers probably underestimate true 
HIV rates in the country because they don't take into account the prison 
population or the homeless.

"I think it's very concerning," said Dr. Susan Buchbinder, who leads HIV 
research for the city of San Francisco. "I think what we need to look at is 
how we can reduce those rates and get more people into treatment."

She recommended a stronger focus on treating drug addiction.

The lead CDC researcher, Geraldine McQuillan, said she was encouraged to 
see the HIV rate among younger blacks holding steady at just under 1.5 percent.

"It tells me we're making some headway," she said.

Other national data and published reports studied by the CDC showed that 
480,000 HIV-infected people ages 15 to 49 should have been getting 
antiviral drugs in 2003, yet only 268,000, or 56 percent, were given such 
medication.

Researcher Eyasu Teshale of the CDC said the gap represents "a substantial 
unmet health care need."
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