CNN is reporting that even though the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that HIV infection rates have been stable at 50,000 people a year for the past four years, the rates of HIV infection are rising steadily among bisexual males and men that have sex with other men (MSM). Of that group, the highest infection rates were for young black men. The findings were published in the scientific journal PLos ONE.
According to the CDC, the reasons for the “alarming increases” among this group aren’t clear. The center states individual risk behaviors alone don’t account for the increase. The data suggests that many factors play a part in the rising rates, some of them being the stigma of HIV and homosexuality in the black community limiting the usage of prevention services, black men not knowing they have HIV, and the lack or limited availability of health care, testing, and treatment services in the black community.
“We are deeply concerend by the alarming rise in new HIV infections in young, black gay and bisexual men and the continued impact of HIV among young gay and bisexual men of all races,” said Jonathan Mermin, director of CDC’s Dvisition of HIV/AIDS Prevention. “We cannot allow the health of a new generation of gay men to be lost to a preventable disease. It’s time to renew the focus on HIV among gay men and confront the homohobia and stigma that all too often accompany this disease.”
Other communities of color are also affected more heavily by HIV infection than that of white communities.
You can read more about this issue at CNN.
