Hey Guys, today while browsing the net I found some very insightful information that I'd like to share with you. I hope you're doing well and accomplishing all of your dreams. Always remember that knowledge is KING!


The 5 ways to contract HIV are:
1)Unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner
2)Through performing or receiving oral sex
3)Sharing needles or other contaminated injection or skin-piercing equipment
4)Through blood and blood products, for example, infected transfusions and organ or tissue transplants
5)Transmission from infected mother to child in the womb or at birth and breast feeding


To help reduce your risk of becoming infected with HIV one should:
*Use latex or polyurethane condoms during every act of sex including during oral sex
*Use male or female condoms along with your chosen contraceptive
*Limit the number of your sex partners
*Avoid having sex with partners who have risky behaviors (including other sex partners)
*Get tested for HIV with your partner to ensure that you are both uninfected
*Avoid using skin-piercing instruments that have not been disinfected
*Avoid sharing needles, IV drugs, and drug paraphernalia *Practice universal precautions at all times (for health care workers)


How to Prevent HIV Infection
*Speak openly with partners about safer sex techniques and HIV status.
*If you don't know your status, get an HIV test to protect yourself and others.
*Get tested with your partner as a way of saying "you care and want both of you to stay healthy."
*Use a latex condom with each oral, anal or vaginal sexual encounter. Those with latex allergies should use latex-free condoms.
*Do not share needles or syringes if you inject drugs. If you do inject drugs, seek professional help to kick your habit.
*HIV infected pregnant women should get into regular prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care. HIV infected women should not breast feed.


HIV Signs and Symptoms
Often people who are HIV infected have few or no symptoms. Other times, symptoms of HIV are confused with other illnesses such as the flu. If a person were to have symptoms they would include:
Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, groin or under the arms
*Diarrhea
*Unexplained weight loss
*Fatigue
*Fever, chills or sweats (especially at night)
*Visual changes
*Frequent pneumonias or shortness of breath
*Rash Flu-like symptoms



HIV Statistics
• For African American men who have sex with men HIV prevalence is estimated at 55% overall (SFDPH 2001a). Among anonymous testers, prevalence was 9.7% (SFDPHb). Another study found a 29% prevalence (Catina et al 2001). Collectively, this data suggests that African Americans have the highest prevalence of any MSM population.

• The HIV/AIDS infection rate among Black men is 6 times that of white men and the rate among Black women is 16 times that of white women

• The number of men with AIDS per 100,000 population includes:
Blacks - 125
Hispanics - 58
Whites - 18
American Indian/Alaska native - 16
Asian/Pacific Islander - 9

• The number of women with AIDS per 100,000 population includes:
Blacks -50
Hispanics -17
American Indian/Alaska native - 4
Whites - 2
Asian/Pacific Islander - 1

• AIDS now accounts for 1 in 3 deaths among Black men aged 25 to 44

• More children with AIDS are Black than all other race and ethnic groups combined

• Every day in the U.S. about 100 people of color become infected with HIV

• More than two-thirds of all women in the U.S. who are infected with the AIDS virus are Black

• Blacks represent 57% of all new AIDS cases in the United States, though comprising only 13% of the population

• AIDS is the leading cause of death of Blacks, age 25-44

• AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women


Other Health Related Sites

Aid Atlanta, Inc http://www.aidatlanta.org/

National Black Justice Coalition http://www.nbjcoalition.org/

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day http://www.blackaidsday.org/

Black AIDS Institute http://www.blackaids.org

My Brothaz Home http://www.mybrothazhome.org

The Know is Spreading http://www.spreadtheknow.com/

Know HIV/AIDS http://www.knowhivaids.org/

People of Color in Crisis http://www.pocc.org/index.html

Be Your Dawgs Best Friend http://www.beyourdawgsbestfriend.com/

Gay Men's Health Crisis http://www.gmhc.org/index.html

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs http://www.ncavp.org/

We Are Part of You http://www.wearepartofyou.org/index.html

Housing Works Inc. http://www.housingworks.org

UNDER THE STAR! INTERNATIONAL, INC http://www.underthestar.org


I hope this information was as usful to you as it was to me...

Founder & CEO
VOYCE, LLC
VCLUB

HIV statistics tell the story of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. For African Americans in the United States, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is rapidly becoming a health crisis. AIDS data shows that in 2002, HIV/AIDS was among the top 3 causes of death for African American men aged 25 to 54 years and among the top 4 causes of death for African American women aged 25 to 54 years. Back then it was the number 1 cause of death for African American women aged 25 to 34 years. The HIV statistics are quite sobering. HIV/AIDS among African Americans is becoming a desparate problem. Here are some HIV facts to prove we have a lot of work to do.



SOURCE: http://aids.about.com/od/dataandstatistics/a/quickfacts2.htm



Why are African Americans More Susceptible to HIV/AIDS?
Race and ethnicity are not influencing factors in the acquisition of HIV/AIDS, and alone they do not explain why certain sub groups of the population are so unjustifiably affected. The following barriers and circumstances are most likely responsible for the disproportionate presence of HIV/AIDS among African Americans:


Socioeconomic factors: Currently, some 1 in 4 African Americans are living on or below the poverty line. This affects their ability to acquire health insurance, with some 20% of African Americans reporting not having any insurance at all. Among those who are insured, 59% have public insurance such as Medicaid, which provides considerably less comprehensive coverage than private insurance. Limited health care also means fewer opportunies for medical providers to provide education about HIV prevention.

Risky sexual behavior and substance abuse: Compared with white men, black men are considerably less likely to acquire HIV through unprotected sex with other men (73% for white men compared with 49% for black men). Unprotected heterosexual sex and needle-injecting drug use are the leading causes. Among African American women, however, some 80% are infected through heterosexual contact. Stigmas surrounding gay behavior among men has led many to lead dual lifestyles, whereby their women are unaware of the unsafe sexual practices of their male partners.


Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs): African Americans are about 20 times more likely to have gonorrhea and about 5 times more likely to have syphilis then their white counterparts. Genital lesions caused by such STDs provide an ideal entry point for HIV -- increasing the likelihood of acquiring the virus three to five times over.


Racism in the medical establishment: Because there are fewer African American physicians, the care of black patients resides almost entriely in the hands of white doctors. There are clear differences in time spent, quality of care, and number of doctor's office visits between blacks and whites. Whites receive more thorough diagnostic work and better treatment and care than people of color -- even when controlling for income, education, and insurance. Research has also concluded that doctors are less likely to take the time needed to provide preventative education and are less aggressive when treating minority patients.


Under utilization of medical care: Because of the problems described above, blacks tend to be less trusting of the medical establishment and tend to under utilize medical resources compared to whites. Blacks may be concerned that their medical information will be not kept confidential if they visit a testing clinic. They may not feel confident that they will get good treatment for the disease if they are infected.


Limited knowledge: According to a recent study, some 67% of African Americans infected with HIV are unaware of their HIV status, compared with 48% of Hispanics and 18% of whites. This may be due to the fact that blacks are generally less aware of the availability of HIV testing, and, as described above, are less likely to seek medical care in general.



Among African Americans, those at greatest risk are women, who account for about 36% of all new HIV diagnoses and about two thirds of all women affected by the virus; youth, who represent nearly 65% of all new cases among teens; and men who have sex with other men. In fact, recent statistics suggest that about 33% of all black men having sex with men are infected with HIV -- a sobering statistic when compared with the 7% of white men in the same category.


What is Being Done to Combat this Epidemic?
Although previously African American advocacy groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) were accused of sidestepping the issue, they have recently begun actively campaigning around prevention and awareness of HIV/AIDS. They are now encouraging black Americans to be tested and to use the political process to pressure the government into action. The Black AIDS Institute has developed what they call the African-American Bridging Program, which was presented at the 2006 AIDS Conference in Toronto.


The American Red Cross has also taken a stand on the issue, offering an instructional course entitled "The African American HIV Education and Prevention Instructor Course", which trains individuals one how to provide HIV education in a culturally sensitive manner.


For its part, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is currently funding a variety of programs and research projects aimed at HIV/AIDS education and prevention in high-risk neighborhoods, such as gay and African American communities.


However, it is the disturbing silence of national and regional politicians, as well as cultural factors, that prevent open discussion around sexuality. This continues to present one of the greatest challenges to overcoming this critical situation.



SOURCE: http://www.epigee.org/health/hiv_aa.html