Despite great strides in HIV prevention, the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to evolve and grow—challenging researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to adapt to its changing face. One key challenge is that the populations who most need prevention interventions continue to shift.
Although men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the largest exposure group in the United States, racial and ethnic minorities (especially people of color) represent the majority of new HIV infections, the majority of Americans living with HIV/AIDS, and the majority of deaths among people with HIV in the United States (CDC, 2005; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004).
Discussion question: Why might ethnic and racial minorities represent the majority of new AIDS cases?
For example, although African Americans and Latinos represent 12% and 13% of the US population (Grieco & Cassidy, 2001), African Americans accounted for 50% of all HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in 2004 (CDC, 2005). The number of African Americans living with AIDS as of 2004 far exceeded that of any other ethnic group (CDC, n.d.c), as shown in the figure below.
Number of people living with AIDS by race/ethnicity, 1993-2004-United States (CDC, n.d.c).
The HIV/AIDS epidemic also is increasingly affecting women and heterosexuals. Women accounted for 7% of the AIDS cases diagnosed in the United States in 1986 (CDC, n.d.b). In 2004, women accounted for approximately 27% of all newly diagnosed AIDS cases in the United States (CDC, n.d.c). Among women, 78% of HIV/AIDS cases in 2004 were from heterosexual exposure (CDC, n.d.d).
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