This year the US Department of Health and Human Services wants to remind you that HIV isn’t just a third world epidemic, the disease takes its toll domestically as well. There are educational events taking place all over the country today to offer American women information on HIV prevention and transmission.
Though originally stigmatized as “gay cancer” in the 1980s, young adults, particularly African-American women, are especially at risk today. HIV is the leading cause of death for young black women (ages 25-34). In 2007, they made up 65% of new AIDS diagnoses in women. Overall, a third of new HIV infections occur in young adults 13-30 years of age.
Check out the Red Pump Project (launched by The Fabulous Giver) for more information about how women are fighting the further spread of HIV amongst their sisters and how they’re helping those who’ve been diagnosed.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn more. Here are some resources to get you started.
Prevention:
- Find an STD testing site near you to get tested with your partner(s).
- Get your Safe Sex Tips here
- Always use a condom when having sex (unless absolutely sure your not-philandering partner is disease-free, and you’re using another type(s) of birth control).
Get your facts:
- CDC Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS in women
- Kaiser Family Foundation HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet covering the history and current state of HIV/AIDS in the US.
- Epic tome And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts provides excellent coverage of the early reactions to the emergence of the virus by the medical, political, and gay communities.
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