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Not for Reproduction Copyright 2008 QNotes Not for ReproductionH E A L T H CA R ENew HIV infection rates hit Carolinas hardBlack gay/bi youth at highest risk,says CDCby Collier Rutledge . Q-Notes staffc oand of Hispanics/Latinosp(5,220 infectionsrin thei18 CDC interventiongprograms forhthe Alliance oftAIDS Services-Carolinas willblacks vs. 3,330 among whites and 2,300HIV/AIDS, only two are directly targetedjoin other Triangle community members onamong Hispanics/Latinos).”toward black gay men.Sept. 22 for a “Faith Forum addressing theThe statistics are from 2006, the latest year Kevin Fenton, the CDC HIV/AIDS division HIV/AIDS Epidemic in The (sic) Triangle’sfor which figures are available.For whites, men in their 30s and 40s wereat the highest risk. White men accounted for46 percent of all new HIV infections amongMSM populations.The CDC cautioned that new HIV infectionsdirector, said more than 80 percent of blackgay and bisexual men “have never come incontact with a CDC-approved HIV-preventionintervention.”In North Carolina, new HIV infection rate40 percent higher than the U.S. rate. In 2006,African American Communities.”Various faithleaders as well as state Rep. Ty Harrell (D-Wake) are participants.In Charlotte, Metrolina AIDS Project hassuccessfully run D-UP!, a program targetingyoung MSM communities of color. Q-Notesthe state had a rate of profiled the program in the Aug. 23 issue’s featured32.2 cases perarticle,“Fighting AIDS with sex.”100,000 people asColumbia’s Palmetto AIDS Life Support2 0 0 8compared to aServices runs EMPACT, or Empowering Mennational rate of 22.6new infections per100,000 people. About72 percent of all newHIV infections in theTar Heel State weremen. Fifty-seven percentof those wereATLANTA — Last month the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC)released a report detailing new estimated figuresfor new HIV infections per year. Jumpingfrom 40,000 new infections each year to morethan 56,000, the CDCalso said the burden forthe increase was “greatestamong gay and bisexualmen of all races.” TheCDC then noted that afull 53 percent of all newinfections occurred ingay and bisexual menand men who have sexwith men (MSM).According to a secondaryreport releasedby the CDC on Sept. 11,new estimates place gayand bisexual African-American males age 13-29 at the highest riskof contracting the virus that causes AIDS.“Among MSM overall, there were morenew HIV infections in young black MSMThis graphic, from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, details the numbersof new HIV infections across race and age. The statistics are from 2006, the latestyear for which figures are available.rates continue to have a “severe impact of HIVamong gay and bisexual men of all races andethnicities,African Americans, and Hispanics/among MSM.South Carolinaalso saw an increasein its HIV infectionrate, especially among its African-Americancommunity.According to The State (Columbia,S.C.), new HIV infection rates among blackc o p r i g hAn HIV/AIDStawareness and preventionposter from D-UP! and the MetrolinaLatinos” but that “within these groups, theAIDS Project.communities accounted for more than triple(aged 13-29) than any other age/racial group impact is most severe among young black gay that of all other races combined.Through Prevention, Action, Community,of MSM,” read a CDC fact sheet.“The number and bisexual men, white gay and bisexual men Several AIDS service organizations in the Collaboration and Training. The programof new infections among young, black gay and in their 30s and 40s, and black women.”Carolinas have begun efforts to reach out to specifically works with African-American agebisexual men was roughly twice that of whites Atlanta’s Southern Voice reported that of African-American communities. In Raleigh, 25 and up. ◗c o p r i g h t2 0 0 8c o p r i g h tSEPTEMBER 20 . 2008 • QNotes 13Not for Reproduction Copyright 2008 QNotes Not for Reproduction