African American Women Hiv Positive Essay

HIV has affected people all across the world. HIV comes with physical and mental symptoms. The body symptoms include skin flaking off, being dry, skin peeling off (Saliba 23) , fingernails falling off (32), and weight loss (14). Mentally it is hard to sleep, people become weak, and are tired all the time (23). People all across the world are infected with this disease, and the problem with this is the fact that most do not even know they have it. The most people who are infected each year are African Americans, gays, or bisexuals. 10,315 African Americans were infected in 2015. The U.S.A. has estimated about 1.1 million are infected with the disease. Equally to about 12,333 deaths happened in 2014 from AIDS related diseases, and 6,721 deaths from AIDS directly. Although there are a large amount of people getting infected, on the other hand eighteen percent of the population with HIV is declining since 2008-2014 (“U.S. Statistics”). In the world about 33.2 million people worldwide have HIV, with 22.5 million people in sub Saharan Africa are living with this condition, one out of nine people who live in South America have HIV or AIDS (Saliba 8).

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic, potentially life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS weakens the immune system hampering the body’s defense mechanisms. AIDS is known to be a deadly disease, especially if it is not treated in a timely manner. AIDS and HIV is an epidemic that is increasing among the African American population with roots tracing back to Africa, AIDS and HIV needs greater exposure and more awareness within the African American community and in the homosexual community.

To be honest HIV/Aids is not a virus/disease that aim towards blacks although a large percentage of the African American population is carriers of the virus. From the history of the HIV/AIDS virus, it is known that the virus variation among humans started with homosexual Caucasian males. Many individuals have forgotten this fact and instead they carry around the idea that HIV is a black homosexual virus base on present statistics like this one from the CDC. “Among all MSM, black/African American MSM accounted for

HIV/ AIDS affect African Americans at a higher rate than any other race (White, Asian, and Hispanic). With African Americans making up approximately 13 percent of the U.S. population, in 2014, they made up almost half of all new HIV/AIDS cases; 44 percent. African American men accounted for 73 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases, and of that 43 percent of African American men were heterosexual (CDC 2014). Since heterosexual African American men don’t equate to the larger population of HIV cases as compared to African American men who have sex with men, these heterosexual men are virtually invisible in the theoretical and empirical psychological HIV/AIDS literature (Bowleg, 2004, p.166).

​African-Americans are the ethnic group most affected by HIV/AIDS. Ironically african-americans represent 14% of the population of the United States , but represent 44% across the gender line. African-american men represent 70% of HIV infections among the ethnic group, however african-american women are also highly at risk of HIV infection. Indeed they have a rate of infection that is 15 times greater than the rate for caucasion women (HIV among African-Americans, 2012). Most African-american women (85%) are infected with HIV through heterosexual sex, often with partners, who claim to be

The death rate from HIV/AIDS for African Americans is more than seven times higher for black AA than it is for Whites.

HIV/AIDS is a disease with social, psychological and physiological consequences for those impacted by the illness. The impact of HIV and AIDS among African American women has been devastating. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2010) reports that black women represent 29% of the estimated new HIV infections among all adult and adolescent African Americans and HIV/AIDS is the third leading cause of death for black women ages 25?44. Several

Black women’s bodies have always been seen as different. They are deemed as exotic and highly sexual because of the protruding nature and curvaceous shape of their hips, butts, and breast. An example of this exoticism and ridicule can be traced back to the early 1800s. Sarah Baartman, also known as the “Hottentot Venus” became an object of fascination, degradation, and humiliation. Her features were not foreign to Khoisan Women. However, the Europeans who kidnapped her and the people who went to view her body as an exhibit could not believe how big her butt, breast, and hips were. Sarah did not fit into the white standardized image of the body, so her body was seen was unnatural and even un-human. One online magazine writer asserts that, “what

HIV/AIDS Disparity among African Americans Health disparities are the differences in accessing and receiving quality of health care provided to different populations (book). The multiple causes of disparities may include gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, stigma or socioeconomic status. One of the common disparities in the US is among African American women who are infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and its viral successor, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). There is no clear answer as to why disparity is an ongoing problem within the population but factors that contribute to this epidemic include race itself, poverty or low income and lack of access to care

Department of Health & Human Services the group of people who are disproportionately affected by HIV are African Americans Gay and Bisexual Men. From 2005 to 2014, diagnoses increased 22% among all African Americans Gay and bisexual men and 87% among young African Americans and gay and bisexual men. By the end of 2013, an approximation of 493,543 gay and bisexual men were living with the HIV infection. Of those, 152,303 (31%) were African American, 210,299 (43%) were white, and 104,529 (21%) were Hispanic/Latino (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2016). Socioeconomic factors limited access to quality health care, lower income and educational levels, and higher rates of unemployment and incarceration may place some African American gay and bisexual men at higher risk for HIV than men of some other races/ethnicities.

Being that Blacks/African AMericans make up only 12 percent of the UNited States population, they account for about 44 percent of new HIV infections annually. It is estimated that at least 280,000 Black/African American men and women have died since the the epidemic began. Another race/ethnic group also disportionately affected by HIV/AIDS are Hispanics/Latinos. They make up about 15 percent of the United States population and account for 21 percent of new annual HIV infections. In total both minority groups makes up about 65 percent of HIV/AIDS cases. The likelihood of an African American or Latino male or female contracting the viruses are twice that of their white counterparts (CDC).

Various studies show evidence that link the relationship between social determinants of health and the risk for HIV. Interrelated social determinants of health can create a context of vulnerability and risk for HIV. It is very important to be able to recognize the interrelation components of HIV risk in order determine the HIV prevention response that is the most effective. For instance, research shows that HIV rates are significantly higher in Black men who have sex with men (MSM) than for MSM of other races. These rates, which are very disproportionate, are not attributable to a higher frequency of sexual risk behaviors. To appropriately address risk for MSM of different races, it is imperative to understand the process of disease transmission among these populations, in other words, the social determinants of health that are involved, such as access to healthcare (CHLA, 2012).

Another thing that’s causing more African American woman to have a higher percentage infected than any other race is because, many don’t date or have sexual partners outside of the African American race. There are more men in the African American race than any other race infected with HIV/AIDS. So therefore infecting the African American woman.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region of the world that is most affected by HIV/AIDS. The United Nations reports that an estimated 25.4 million people are living with HIV and that approximately 3.1 million new infections occurred in 2004. To put these figures in context, more than 60 percent of the people living with the infection reside in Africa. Even these staggering figures do not quite capture the true extent and impact that this disease causes on the continent. In 1998, about 200,000 Africans died as a result of various wars taking place on the continent. In that same year, more than 2 million succumbed to HIV/AIDS (Botchwey, 2000).

HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. A member of a group of viruses called retroviruses, HIV infects human cells and uses the energy and nutrients provided by those cells to grow and reproduce. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is a disease in which the body's immune system breaks down and is unable to fight off certain infections, known as "opportunistic infections," and other illnesses that take advantage of a weakened immune system. When a person is infected with HIV, the virus enters the body and lives and multiplies primarily in the white blood cells. These are the immune cells that normally protect us from disease.