... according to the CDC, new infections are still dominated by MSM or IV drug use.
* Approximately 40,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the United States, about 70 percent among men and 30 percent among women. Of these newly infected people, half are younger than 25 years of age.(3,4)
* Of new infections among men in the United States, CDC estimates that approximately 60 percent of men were infected through homosexual sex, 25 percent through injection drug use, and 15 percent through heterosexual sex. Of newly infected men, approximately 50 percent are black, 30 percent are white, 20 percent are Hispanic, and a small percentage are members of other racial/ethnic groups.(4)
* Of new infections among women in the United States, CDC estimates that approximately 75 percent of women were infected through heterosexual sex and 25 percent through injection drug use. Of newly infected women, approximately 64 percent are black, 18 percent are white, 18 percent are Hispanic, and a small percentage are members of other racial/ethnic groups.(4)
Now 60% of 70% is 42% of all infections -- a dramatically disproportionate rate for a practice actively engaged in by 1-2% of the adult population. It is also fair to attribute many of the heterosexual transmissions to homosexual ones -- IOW, many women are infected by men who became infected through MSM, and despite the decreasing stigma, it is reasonable to assume that a decent portion of those men who claim they contracted it through heterosexual sex do not want to be outed. The odds of me picking any straight man to randomly have sex with and contracting AIDS are next to nil. The odds of a gay man picking any gay man and contracting AIDS are unfortunately way too high for anyone in their right mind to risk! And yet they do!
To date, still less than 1 million of rapidly approaching 300 million Americans are infected. Compare that to just prostate and breast cancer and you should begin to get my point. Just among family and family friends I've known at least two dozen who have developed and/or died of cancer. I know of one who has contracted and died of AIDS. It was an infection that could have been prevented. The same can't be said for most if not all of those cancers.
I'm still most saddened that the majority of AIDS deaths are needless and could have been avoided if it was treated like any other communicable disease by responsible health officials. It is never too late to change failed policy, if only to set precedent for the next thing that comes down the pike!
Can we focus on the US when talking about policies and social factors in the US? I mean it's not a whole lot different than discussing diahrea in the US and in the Third World -- apples and oranges completely!
Evie 