New Massachusetts Report on HIV/AIDS Reveals "Troubling Disparity" in Communities of Color

Source:

EthnicNewz.org

Writer:

M. Thang

BOSTON, Dec. 4, 2007-Latinos and African Americans each comprise only 6% of the population of Massachusetts, but they make up more than 50% of the state's residents who have HIV/AIDS.

So says a report released yesterday by the Mass. Department of Public Health (DPH), called "An Added Burden: The Impact of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic on Communities of Color in Massachusetts," according to DPH press release.

The report also reveals a "troubling disparity" in the use of HIV/AIDS services by people of color in Massachusetts.

"The disparity that we see in HIV/AIDS is perhaps the most profound health inequity in Massachusetts," said DPH Commissioner John Auerbach, in the press release.

The DPH report also describes patterns of HIV transmission within the state's communities of color relative to those among Whites. For Whites, exposure to to HIV remains primarily through unprotected sex between men as well as shared drug paraphernalia.

In communities of color, the greater percentage of persons exposed to HIV occurs through unprotected heterosexual sex.

The various types of exposure to HIV is "very important in designing effective prevention and outreach strategies," said Kevin Cranston, director of DPH's HIV/AIDS Bureau, in the press release

Other findings of the report:

* More than 50% of men and 83% of women diagnosed with HIV between 2003 and 2005 were people of color.
* The age-adjusted death rate from HIV/AIDS for Blacks and Hispanics in Massachusetts was approximately 10 times that of Whites between 2003 and 2005.
* Each year, 900 to 1,000 individuals with HIV infection are newly reported to the Mass. DPH's HIV/AIDS Surveillance Program.
* While drug use via syringes (needles) is a major factor for HIV infection in people of color, these infected individuals are significantly underrepresented in the state's HIV testing services and its four needle-exchange programs.

The report also identifies areas in which more public-health interventions and resources are needed, such as:

* Expanding culturally-specific public information about HIV to build a greater level of knowledge about HIV risk, risk reduction, the importance of HIV testing and the availability of HIV services among communities of color.
* Expanding outreach efforts to more effectively engage communities of color.
* Implementing science-based prevention interventions that take into account the language, values and traditions of communities of color.
* Expanding the availability of needle/syringe access programs in locations likely to be utilized by communities of color.
* Increasing the availability of routine and rapid HIV testing in health care settings and other community settings utilized by people of color.

The Mass. DPH report, "An Added Burden: The Impact of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic on Communities of Color in Massachusetts," is online at http://mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dph/research_epi/disparity_report.pdf [1].