How Black Moms and Daughters Can Fight to Reduce HIV Rates

The statistics are well-known. African Americans bear the heaviest burden of HIV infection of all racial or ethnic groups in the United States, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the burden of this disease is carried squarely on the shoulders of African-American women. Their rates of new HIV infections are more than three times higher than those of white women and four times those of Hispanic women. Recent CDC data show that almost 75,000 African Americans are unaware that they are living with HIV.

Through my work as an HIV/AIDS prevention advocate over the past decade, I’ve learned that the “why” is a little more complicated than the “what” when it comes to breaking down these inequities. And these inequities have fueled my passion to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in communities of color. Through research and community interventions, I’ve learned that a lethal mix of economic, social, cultural, biological, environmental and behavioral factors contribute to the HIV/AIDS devastation in communities of color.

With financial support for health care facing an uncertain political future, it’s important that other initiatives…

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