White House Hosts Summit on Black Men and AIDS
The White House held a summit Wednesday on the dire impact that AIDS has had on African American men, and officials said incidences of the disease may even be on the rise.
According to CDC figures, black men bear the greatest burden of HIV infection and account for nearly two-thirds of all estimated HIV infections in the black community. Their HIV diagnosis rate in 2006 was the highest of any group–more than seven times that for white males and twice the rate for Hispanic males and black females. In fact, the number of people with HIV in some of the nation’s black communities is comparable to the rate highly impacted African countries.
Summit participants included policymakers, community and religious leaders, doctors and key members of the Obama administration. The event was part of a series of meetings the White House conducted in the past several months to explore different aspects of the HIV/AIDS issue. The administration will soon release its national HIV/AIDS strategy to decrease the incidence of the disease and improve care.
Click here to view the summit.