The 2007 District of Columbia HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report says that 12,400 - or 1 in 50 - are currently living with our least favorite retrovirus.
Some alarming stats:
- black residents account for 57 percent of the city’s population of 500,000 but represent 86% of HIV/AIDS cases
- Cases in Washington, DC account for 6% of all mother-to-child H.I.V. infections in the nation in the last five years; vertical transmission can be easily prevented
- The disease spread through heterosexual contact in more than 37% of the cases detected from 2001 to last year, in comparison with the 25% of cases attributable to men having sex with men.
- Starting in 2004, the number of new H.I.V. cases among men and women ages 40 to 49 outpaced every other age group in the city
- City health officials said unprotected sex was the most common way H.I.V. is spread, followed by intravenous drug use.
- but...Washington is the only city in the country that is barred by federal law from using local tax money to finance needle exchange programs - hmmm
No comments:
Post a Comment