Aids could devastate blacks , latinos in USA .

[Mo]

Minority populations hit hard by HIV
ATLANTA: The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to have a disproportionate
and devastating impact on communities of colour, according to the
surgeon general and assistant secretary of health, Dr. David Satcher,
speaking at the United States Conference on AIDS here.

``When the AIDS epidemic started in this country in 1981, it was
viewed as an epidemic predominantly of white, gay men. That was
partially true for a while...but there's been a dramatic change,''
Satcher said.

Satcher talked about the latest HIV/AIDS statistics, collected from
July 1999 to June 2000. The figures show that the African American and
Latino communities are disproportionately over-represented in the
number of new HIV infections.

Black and Latino women are especially hard hit, making up 78% of newly
reported HIV cases among women, he noted. According to the data,
African Americans, while making up only 12% of the population, account
for over 50% of the estimated 40,000 new HIV infections and almost
half of the total cases reported. Latinos make up 11% of the
population, yet account for an estimated 19% of new HIV infections and
19% of total AIDS cases reported.

American Indians/Alaskan Natives and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders
are under-represented in the figures. ``The problem that we have to be
concerned with here,'' Satcher said, ``is that...the reporting systems
for these populations are not good...and we may be underestimating the
impact of the AIDS epidemic among these populations.''

Satcher discussed two federal initiatives that have been launched to
respond to the epidemic in communities of colour--the Crisis Response
Team (CRT) and The Leadership Campaign on AIDS (TLCA). The CRT offers
technical assistance to cities whose minority communities are hardest
hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and TLCA focuses on mobilizing local
leadership and communities in the fight against AIDS.

``While we have made great strides related to the reduction of
mortality, one of the biggest challenges still confronting us is
preventing the further spread of this disease,'' Satcher said. ``The
epidemic has evolved to become increasingly an epidemic of people of
colour, of women and of the young.''(Reuters)

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[dsem...@my-deja.com]

In article <yDMC5.3693$d4.2...@nnrp4.clara.net>,

mo2...@yahoo.com (Mo) wrote:
> Minority populations hit hard by HIV

Look in your own back yard, India is now the HIV capital of the world.

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