The CDC, national African-American organizations and local health agencies are observing National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day today. The groups are hoping to raise awareness about HIV in the black community. For information on events, testing, treatment and support services, visit BlackAIDSDay.org.

When looking at the disease from a gender perspective, for Black Men, the most common ways of getting HIV are: (1) having unprotected sex with another man or woman who has HIV; and (2) sharing injection drug works (like needles or syringes) with someone who has HIV. For Black Women, the most common ways of getting HIV are: (1) having unprotected sex with a man who has HIV; and (2) sharing injection drug works (like needles or syringes) with someone who has HIV. Blacks at higher risk for HIV are those (1) who are unaware of their sexual partner’s risk factors; (2) with other STDs (which affect more Blacks than any other racial or ethnic group); and (3) who live in poverty (which is about one quarter [25%] of all Blacks).

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Black America is a continuing public health crisis for the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at the end of 2006, there were an estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV infection, of which almost half (46%) were Black.

By race/ethnicity, African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV in the United States (US). At the end of 2007, Blacks accounted for almost half (46%) of people living with a diagnosis of HIV infection in the 37 states and 5 US dependent areas with long-term, confidential, name-based HIV reporting. In 2006, Blacks accounted for nearly half (45%) of new infections in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Even though new HIV infections among Blacks overall have been roughly stable since the early 1990s, compared with members of other races and ethnicities Blacks continue to account for a higher proportion of cases at all stages of HIV—from new infections to deaths.

According to the CDC, in 2008, an estimated 18,328 Blacks received an AIDS diagnosis, a number that has remained relatively stable since 2005. By the end of 2007, an estimated 233,624 Blacks with a diagnosis of AIDS had died in the US and 5 dependent areas. In 2006, HIV was the ninth leading cause of death for all Blacks and the third leading cause of death for both Black men and Black women aged 35–44.