AIDS prevention in the United States: a hit-and-miss affair

Agence France-Presse - February 11, 2004
Pascal Barollier

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 11 (AFP) - AIDS prevention policies in the United
States have fallen short of their mark in large cities like New York,
researchers told a medical conference here.

A study conducted in New York City in 2001 found that 2.8 percent of
the male population in the borough of Manhattan were HIV positive,
including 2.3 percent of the black male population.

Among men aged 40-49, the proportion infected with HIV hit 3.9 percent
in Manhattan, according to the study by the New York Health
Department.

David Nash, who headed the research project, said that while "New York
City comprises three percent of the US population, it accounts for
over 15 percent of the nation's AIDS cases and 18 percent of
HIV-related deaths in 2001."

The potentially lethal disease continues to affect blacks and
Hispanics significantly more than whites: The risk factor is five
times greater among black New Yorkers and 2.5 times greater among
Hispanic New Yorkers.

And almost one-third of all HIV/AIDS cases in New York are detected in
the advanced stages of the disease, reducing the chances of survival,
said Nash.

Another study conducted at the University of North Carolina indicated
that high-risk sexual habits prevailed among black homosexuals.

"This is a wake-up call. The HIV is still being transmitted," said
Lisa Hightow, who took part in the study conducted at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill between January 1, 2001 and March 1,
2003.

It showed that unprotected anal sex was practiced by 25 percent to 40
percent of students participating in the study, whose average age was
22.

And during the two years in which the study was conducted, 423 new
AIDS cases were reported among men in all of North Carolina -- 13
percent were students, 88 percent were blacks and 91 percent were
homosexuals.

Researchers at the Atlanta, Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) also focused on possible HIV transmission between
the homosexual and heterosexual populations.

CDC expert Greg Millett studied a group of poor black men who
described themselves as heterosexuals but who regularly had sexual
contact with other men. He concluded that this group could contribute
to homosexual-to-heterosexual HIV transmission.

(...)

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