HIV prevalence in blacks doubles to 2 percent

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The Associated Press

BOSTON — The HIV infection rate has doubled among U.S. blacks over a decade while holding steady among whites.

Such numbers offer stark evidence of a widening racial gap in the epidemic.

Other troubling statistics indicate that almost half of all infected people in the United States who should be receiving HIV drugs are not getting them.

The findings were released Friday at the 12th annual Retrovirus Conference, the world's chief scientific gathering on the disease.

“It's incredibly disappointing,” said Terje Anderson, director of the National Association of People With AIDS. “We just have a burgeoning epidemic in the African-American community that is not being dealt with effectively.”

Researchers and AIDS prevention advocates attributed the high rate among blacks to such factors as drug addiction, poverty and poor access to health care.

The HIV rates were derived from the widely used National Health and Nutrition Examinations Surveys, which analyze a representative sample of U.S. households and contain the most complete HIV data in the country. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention compared 1988-1994 data with figures from 1999-2002.

The surveys look only at young and middle-age adults who live in households, excluding such groups as soldiers, prisoners and the homeless. Thus, health officials think the numbers probably underestimate true HIV rates.

Still, they show a striking rise in the prevalence of the AIDS virus from 1 percent to 2 percent of blacks. White rates held steady at 0.2 percent. Largely because of the increase among blacks, the overall U.S. rate rose slightly from 0.3 percent to 0.4 percent.

Susan Buchbinder, who leads HIV research for San Francisco, recommended a stronger focus on treating drug addiction.

The lead CDC researcher, Geraldine McQuillan, said she was encouraged to see the HIV rate among younger blacks holding steady at just under 1.5 percent.

“It tells me we're making some headway,” she said.