Today is National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. I honestly would not have known that if it were not for The Red Pump Project. So head on over to the site for some information and inspiration to get involved.
Here are some stats from the website:
HIV/AIDS & Women Statistics
Statistics used are from the Center for Disease Control's website. Although these stats are only taking the United States into account, globally, HIV/AIDS is no less of a problem, especially for women.
Key Snapshot of the U.S. Epidemic TodayHIV/AIDS & Women in the United States
- Number of new HIV infections, 2006: 56,300
- Number of people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.1 million, including more than 468,000 with AIDS
- Number of AIDS deaths since beginning of epidemic: 583,298, including 14,561 in 2007
- Percent of people infected with HIV who don’t know it: 21%
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*There are approximately 1.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. & almost 280,000 are women
*In 2006, there were 15,000 new HIV infections and 9,801 AIDS cases diagnosed among women
*There were 3,784 deaths among women with AIDS in 2006
*Among those who are HIV positive, 35% of women were tested for HIV late in their illness (diagnosed with AIDS within one year of testing positive)
*HIV is the 5th leading cause of death in women in the United States, ages 25-44
*High-risk heterosexual contact is the source of 80% of these newly diagnosed infections in women
*According to a CDC study of more than 19,500 patients with HIV in 10 US cities, women were slightly less likely than men to receive prescriptions for the most effective treatments for HIV infection
*Women with AIDS made up an increasing part of the epidemic. In 1992, women accounted for an estimated 14% of adults and adolescents living with AIDS in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. By the end of 2005, this proportion had grown to 23%
*From the beginning of the epidemic through 2005, almost 86,000 women have died of AIDS and AIDS-related complications.
*The largest number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses during recent years was for women aged 15–39
HIV/AIDS & Minority Women
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HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects minority women in the United States. According to the 2005 census, Black and Latina women represent 24% of all US women combined, but account for 82% of the estimated total of AIDS diagnoses for women in 2005.
HIV is:
*the leading cause of death for black women (including African American women) aged 25–34 years.
*the 3rd leading cause of death for black women aged 35–44 years.
*the 4th leading cause of death for black women aged 45–54 years.
*the 4th leading cause of death for Latina women aged 35–44 years.
*The only diseases causing more deaths of women were cancer and heart disease
*The rate of AIDS diagnosis for black women was approximately 23 times the rate for white women and 4 times the rate for Latina women
*In 2006, teen girls represented 39% of AIDS cases reported among 13–19 year-olds. Black teens represented 69% of cases reported among 13–19 year-olds; Latino teens represented 19%
These statistics were pulled from The Center for Disease Control's website and the Kaiser Family Foundation's Fact Sheets (which cited the CDC). Get more information about the effect of the epidemic from these sites.
BBGs and readers, please feel free to share your thoughts, feelings, and concerns. Also, please share suggestions for ways that we can all be more involved in this cause that hits closer and closer to home everyday.
4 comments:
funny, b/c i was just telling someone they needed to get tested before engaging in sexual activity with a new partner...i think it seemed like a semi-novel concept to them. forreal?! in '09?! as a person of color?! geez...
don't know about ya'll, bu i LOVE my life. LOVE it. and i LOVE having the most FIYAH-est sex out there which means the SAFEST sex possible. the 2 go hand-in-hand in my mind.
seriously though my people, why risk it?
i personally think one of the things i can do is have conversations with my sisters (and brothers) on this topic. i take for granted the fact that i am raised by health care professionals, some of my dearest friends are pro-active and educated on this matter. but, i am a warrior and cannot be afraid of telling, asking, sharing, insisting, helping and praying in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
peace. love.
I just wanted to share the "thank you" we received for participating in The Red Pump Project.
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WOW! That's all we can say right now! The "Rock the Red Pump" campaign was a huge success thanks to each and every one of you! When it was all said and done, the Red Pump was featured on over 100 blogs across the country. If you Google "Red Pump Project, you'll see that the first five pages are related to this movement (minus a few random entries). That's a whole lot of HIV/AIDS awareness that you helped to spread to your readers!
Now, that the campaign is over, we don't want your support to end! Please continue to visit theredpumpproject.com, and feel free to send us ideas, topics, and issues that you would like to read about. Over the next two weeks, Luvvie and I will be laying out the framework for The Red Pump Project, including our mission, our goals, and upcoming workshops and fundraisers. Some of you all have already reached out and asked to be ambassadors in your cities, and we will certainly be in contact with you!
In the meantime, if you have ANY questions, please do not hesitate to email us.
Once again...THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Have a great day, everybody :-)
Karyn & Luvvie
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The Red Pump Project Page - http://www.theredpumpproject.com
Rock the Red Pump in honor of National HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 10th)
im just getting to this but i do know that some of the not getting tested has to do with the whole conversation still not being normal. my youth in dc loved to talk about sex and sexual health but the actual logistics of getting tested--where to go, what they do, what it means--weren't details that they understodo so that co,,bined with it being a conversation already about sex made them get really weird.
im not sure how to normalize testing. maybe some mandatpry volunteering at a clinic so they dont act like it is a foreign country? i mean part of it is that part of healthy sex isnt in some (alot?) of peoples worldview or realm of experience. and that may be something they need to really touch and feel to be comfortable just saying, yeah dude, wheres ur papers....
ok, kis, i feel yo to a certain point...
kids got it. it is our duty as adults to teach them, in practical manners about the importance of STD testing and how that creates a healthy, exciting sex life.
grown-ass, worldly, HIGHLY educated, privileged black person. no deals. you know the deal, you're just in denial.
overall, i do agree, the conversation about STD testing has not become normalized. at all. like i said, person in question damn near thought i had horns growing out of my ass. lol.
i think the point you raised in regards to "mandatory" volunteer opportunities or the like works for young people. how do we get ADULTS to understand the importance of it? i think we have become a lot more complacent than the younger generation.
(damn, there are people younger than us out there that we are responsible for...
...old ass!)
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