With fiery epidemics like Zika and Ebola barging onto the scene , HIV may no longer be at the vanguard of many minds . But anew reportfrom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) serves as a punitory monitor that this virus is very much still an issue , and should not be sweep to one side .
Despite the fact that , overall , the risk of larn HIV in the U.S. has fallen over the past decennary , from 1 in 78 to 1 in 99 , there are alert disparities among populations , not just in terms of life style but geographics and race , too . For gay black men , for instance , almost half will be diagnosed with HIV in their life . That ’s if current trends proceed ; HIV is preventable , so it does n’t have to be this way , if governments and health worker step up their unequal game .
“ As alarming as these life-time risk estimates are , they are not a foregone end , ” the CDC ’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin suppose in astatement . “ They are a call to action . ”
Using diagnosis and death rates from 2009 to 2013 , and simulate that current trends retain , the CDC was able to fancy the lifetime risk of mortal from dissimilar demographic groups in the U.S. becoming infected with HIV . Looking at different types of transmission , heterosexual men and woman were at the low risk of diagnosis , with 1 in 473 and 1 in 241 facing contagion at some tip in their lifetime , respectively . For man who have sex with other valet ( MSM ) , the jeopardy skyrocketed to 1 in 6 .
But if race was taken into account for the latter group , the statistic were even more startling . While for blank MSM the risk is 1 in 11 , it ’s a cheerless 1 in 2 for African Americans . Even if we slay the route of transmission from the equation , grim American men still draw the short straw , with 1 in 20 being diagnosed in their life ; for livid men , it ’s 1 in 132 .
Pre - exposure prophylaxis ( PrEP ) pills are presently being investigated as a HIV bar strategy . Marc Bruxelle / Shutterstock
These figures should n’t be film to mean that black men are more bad than white males ; rather , they likely speculate differing preponderance rates among communities . access code to health care and socioeconomic position are also probably significant players , something that clearly needs to be addressed .
The disparities are n’t limited to ethnicity , though . If we lookstate by stateif trends continue , the South seems to be most at risk , with many State Department allege to be " mellow risk of infection " . 1 in 13 residents of Washington , DC could become infected during their life , followed by 1 in 49 in Maryland . Worryingly , that ’s for all individuals , not individual group . On the other conclusion of the scale , if you ’re in North Dakota , the risk is 1 in 670 .
While we do n’t have a vaccine or a cure , we do have the means to change this forecast . Condoms are effective at preventing transmission , as are antiviral drugs . Policymakers want to use this data as an alibi to act , by improving memory access to healthcare and raising sentience through educational campaigns . In the end , the monetary value of not act will be greater than implementing such strategies .
