HIV Alert — Black Gay Men
The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently
conducted a random study of men, 18 years and older, from 5 cities
that participate in the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system.
The cities were Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San
Francisco. The participants in the study were also tested for HIV
after giving informed consent.
The findings suggest that the HIV seroprevalence among
black men who have sex with men is higher than was seen in the earlier studies and
is higher than the rate for other racial and ethnic groups. HIV
prevalence was 46% among the black participants. In
contrast, HIV prevalence among white participants was 21%. The
HIV prevalence for all participants was 25%. Another disturbing
finding was that of all participants who tested positive, 48%
were unaware that they were HIV positive prior to participating
in the study. Of those who were unaware of their HIV status,
64% were black.
To read the CDC's article on the study, which appeared in the
June 24, 2005 issue of the MMWR, click
here.
These findings are serious and GMHC is in the process of facilitating
a community response to this issue. Right now, we want the community
to be aware of what is occurring. If you want to be kept informed
about our work to ensure that HIV prevention policies include efforts
to reduce HIV prevalence in black gay men, please fill in the form
below.
© 2005 Gay Men's Health Crisis |
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