CDC recognizes National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2016

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is recognized annually on Feb. 7 to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and reduce the disproportionate impact of the infection on blacks in the United States.

Black patients, particularly gay and bisexual men, account for more HIV diagnoses each year compared with other ethnic groups, according to the CDC. In 2014, black patients accounted for 44% of new infections, with 73% of diagnoses reported in men. The annual HIV diagnosis rate for black women (30.0 per 100,000) was 18 times greater than the diagnosis rate for white women, and five times greater than the rate for Hispanic women.

Data from 2011 showed that 85% of black patients living with HIV received a diagnosis, 40% were engaged in care, 36% were assigned ART, and 28% reached viral suppression.

To coincide with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Infectious Disease News has compiled a list of the top five stories during the past year that examine HIV infection in blacks.

US blacks infrequently receive consistent HIV care

From 2011 to 2013, blacks living in the United States less frequently received ongoing HIV medical care than patients of other ethnicities.

Furthermore, black men were less likely to receive consistent care than black women, as was also the case among blacks whose infections were attributable to a combination of injection drug use and male-to-male sexual contact, researchers wrote in MMWR. Read more.

HIV progress lags for gay, bisexual minorities, Southern states

Although new cases of HIV infection in the United States dropped 19% from 2005 to 2014, diagnoses increased by 22% in black gay and bisexual men before leveling off in 2010, according to data presented at the CDC’s National HIV Prevention Conference. Further increases were observed in younger black gay and bisexual men aged 13 to 24 years, with an 87% increase between 2005 and 2014. The trend, however, declined by 2% since 2010.

Jonathan Mermin

“Although we are encouraged by the recent slowing of the epidemic among black gay and bisexual men — especially young men — they continue to face a disproportionately high HIV burden and we must address it,” Jonathan Mermin, MD, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, said in a press release. Read more.

Blacks with HIV have higher 10-year, all-cause mortality

Black men and women initiating ART had a greater 10-year, all-cause mortality compared with other races and ethnicity groups, according to data published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The crude 10-year mortality risk was 27% among black men and 25% for black women vs. 16.8% for white men and 17.5% for white women. The mortality risk among black men was 7.2% (95% CI, 4.3%-10.1%) greater than it was among white men, and 7.9% (95% CI, 3.9%-12%) greater among black women. Read more.

Hodgkin’s lymphoma therapy, survival disparities seen in patients with HIV

Poor overall survival rates for HIV-associated Hodgkin’s lymphoma was linked to a lack of treatment, particularly among male patients who were black or white Hispanic, according to recent findings published in AIDS.

“These associations are concerning in the context of HIV incidence in the United States, which is nearly 10 times higher in African-Americans compared with whites, and the fact that according to our data half of currently diagnosed HIV-positive Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients are of black race,” the researchers wrote. Read more.

Black, Latino MSM report high exposure to recent HIV campaigns

Black and Latino men who have sex with men reported high levels of exposure to two HIV social marketing campaigns.

“Future HIV testing campaigns to reach black MSM and Latino MSM may want to consider implementation strategies such as presence at Gay Pride events and advertising in prominent print and online media to increase campaign exposure,” Hannah Badal, MPH, of the Prevention Communication Branch of the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, said during a presentation at the CDC’s National HIV Prevention Conference. Read more.