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AFRICAN AMERICANS, HEALTH
DISPARITIES AND HIV/AIDS

African Americans,
Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS
Recommendations for Confronting the
Epidemic in Black America
Robert E. Fullilove, Ed.D.

Associate Dean for Community and
Recommendations for
Confronting the Epidemic in Black America
Minority Affairs &
Professor of Clinical Sociomedical
Sciences
Mailman School of Public Health
Columbia University
Draft: October 6, 2006

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 AT 10:00 AM (ET) / 7:00 AM (PT).

A REPORT FROM THE NATIONAL MINORITY AIDS COUNCIL
BY ROBERT E. FULLILOVE, ED.D.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

PLEASE NOTE: THE REPORT AND PRESS RELEASE ARE EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 AT 10:00 AM (ET) / 7:00 AM (PT).

© November 2006
National Minority AIDS Council

PLEASE NOTE: THE REPORT AND PRESS RELEASE ARE EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 AT 10:00 AM (ET) / 7:00 AM (PT).

T

his report was written on behalf of the National
Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), the premier

REPORT ADVISORY PANEL
Adaora Adimora, M.D., M.P.H.

Richard Payne, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine, University of

Professor of Medicine, Director, Duke

North Carolina

Institute on Care at the End of Life

experts from a cross-section of disciplines — public health,

A. Cornelius Baker
National Policy Advisory, National Black Gay

Beny J. Primm, M.D.

medicine, HIV/AIDS advocacy, prisons and national AfricanAmerican leadership organizations — listed on this page.

Men’s Advocacy Coalition

national organization dedicated to developing

leadership within communities of color to address the challenges
of HIV/AIDS. It was reviewed by the panel of leading

Carl Bean
Bishop, Unity Fellowship Church

Founder and Executive Director, Addiction
Research and Treatment Corporation
Chair Emeritus, NMAC
Sheryl Lee Ralph

The following organizations have endorsed African

Julian Bond

Actress/Broadway Legend,

Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS:

Chairman, National Association for the

NMAC Spokesperson

Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

in Black America:

The Honorable Donna M. Christensen

David Resnik, J.D., Ph.D.
Bioethicist, National Institute of

AIDS Housing of Washington, Seattle, WA

Delegate to Congress (D-U.S.Virgin Islands)

The AIDS Institute, Washington, DC

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.

AIDS Project Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

U.S. Representative (D-MI)

AIDSNET, Bethlehem, PA

Marian Wright Edelman

Dean, Mailman School of Public Health,

President, Children’s Defense Fund

Columbia University

Asian and Pacific Islander Health Forum, Washington, DC
Brotherhood, Incorporated, New Orleans, LA
Comunity Health Outreach Workers (CHOW),
Detroit, MI

Debra Fraser-Howze
President and CEO
National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
Sandra L. Gadson, M.D.

Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project

Immediate Past President,

(CHAMP), New York, NY

National Medical Association

Community Enrichment Organization, Tarboro, NC

Joseph Gathe, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.P.

Florida Department of Health, Bureau of HIV/AIDS,

Clinical Instructor, Baylor College of Medicine

Tallahassee, Florida

Elizabeth Gaynes

Harm Reduction Coalition, New York, NY and

Executive Director,The Osborne Association

Oakland, CA

Bruce S. Gordon

Health Education Resource Organization, Inc. (HERO),

President, National Association for the

Baltimore, MD

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Lambda Legal, New York, NY

The Honorable Barbara Lee

Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, Los Angeles, CA
The National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council,
Inc., Orlando, FL

U.S. Representative (D-CA)

York, NY
National Youth Advocacy Coalition, Washington, DC
Project GRACE/Community Enrichment Organization,
Tarboro, NC
Saint Joseph’s Mercy Care Services, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Total Health Awareness Team, Rockford, IL

National Institutes of Health
Allan Rosenfield, M.D.

David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Center of Excellence on Health
Disparities, Morehouse School of Medicine
16th Surgeon General of the United States
Kimberly Y. Smith, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Professor of Medicine, Rush
University Medical Center
Valerie Stone, M.D., M.P.H.
Associate Chief, General Medicine Unit,
Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard
Medical School
The Honorable Louis W. Sullivan, M.D.
President Emeritus,
Morehouse School of Medicine

David J. Malebranche, M.D., M.P.H.

Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Health

Assistant Professor, Emory University

and Human Services

School of Medicine

National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, New

Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)/

Mark Mauer
Executive Director,The Sentencing Project
Marc Morial
President, National Urban League

The Honorable Maxine Waters
U.S. Representative (D-CA)
Phill Wilson
Founder and Executive Director,
Black AIDS Institute

Frank Oldham, Jr.
Executive Director, National Association of
People With AIDS (NAPWA)

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

3

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Robert E. Fullilove, Ed.D.
Robert E. Fullilove, Ed.D. is the Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs
and Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman
School of Public Health. He and his wife, Mindy Thompson Fullilove, M.D., currently
co-direct the Community Research Group at the New York State Psychiatric Institute
and Columbia University, as well as a newly formed degree program in Urbanism and
the Built Environment.
From 1995 to 2001, Dr. Fullilove served on the Board of Health Promotion and
Disease Prevention at the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) Institute of Medicine
(IOM). Since 1996, he has served on five IOM study committees that have produced
reports on HIV/AIDS and other health topics. In 1998, he was appointed to the
Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control,
and was named its chair in 2000. He was designated a National Associate of the NAS in
2003, and was appointed to the National Advisory Council of the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health in 2004.
Dr. Fullilove was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bank Street College of
Education in 2002. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Sexually Transmitted
Diseases and Journal of Public Health Policy.

The National Minority AIDS Council
Since 1987, the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) has been dedicated
to building the capacity of minority faith- and community-based organizations, AIDS
service organizations and health departments addressing the challenges of HIV/AIDS
in communities of color.To accomplish this mission, the agency provides conferences,
capacity-building and technical assistance services, publications and online resources.
NMAC’s advocacy arm represents these organizations on Capitol Hill, promoting
sound national HIV/AIDS, health and social policies that ensure greater access to
health care and services to those living with and/or at risk for HIV/AIDS, particularly
in communities of color.
For more information about NMAC’s programs and services, please contact us directly at:
National Minority AIDS Council
1931 13th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009-4432
E-mail: info@nmac.org
Web: www.nmac.org
Telephone: (202) 483-6622

4

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
HIV and African Americans: A Close Look . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Marginalized Social Status and Stigma Contribute to Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
HIV Testing and the African-American Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Challenges to Implementing Large-Scale HIV Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Factors that Cause Poor Outcomes for African Americans With HIV . . . . . . . 14
Diagnosis at Advanced Disease Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Social and Environmental Factors That Diminish Treatment Success . . . . . . . . . . 14
Competing Financial Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Distrust of the Medical Establishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Role of Injection Drug Use in HIV’s Spread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Inadequate Government Funding for HIV/AIDS Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Epidemiological Impact of Poverty and Segregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The Rural HIV Epidemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Epidemiological Consequences of Unstable Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Impact of Affordable Housing on Community Desegregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Impact of Incarceration on HIV/AIDS in Black America . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Connection Between Incarceration, Poverty and Homelessness . . . . . . . . . . 20
HIV Transmission in Prisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Incarceration, HIV Infection and the African-American Community . . . . . . . . . 21
Incarceration’s Impact on the Community’s Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Policy Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Looking Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

5

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Over the past 25 years, AIDS has had a devastating impact

residential instability is associated with school failure for children, a lack of access to

on the African-American community.Today, African

preventive health care and the aggravation of a host of chronic health conditions ranging

Americans become infected with, and die from, HIV/AIDS

from cardiovascular disease to HIV/AIDS (Anderson, St. Charles and Fullilove, 2003).

far more than any other racial or ethnic group.

Another important factor is the high rate of incarceration among African-American

In 2004, the most recent year for which national

males. Incarceration is one of the most important drivers of HIV infection among African

surveillance data were available at the time of writing

Americans. In addition to in-prison HIV risk behavior, such as unprotected sex and injection

this report, African Americans comprised only 13% of

drug use, there are important questions about the role that formerly incarcerated persons play

the U.S. population but accounted for half of all new

in transmitting HIV to others following their release from prison or in between periods of

HIV/AIDS diagnoses. African-American adults and

incarceration.There are also major concerns about the level of HIV education and treatment

adolescents are 10 times more likely to have AIDS

they may receive while in prison.

than whites. The disease strikes subgroups of African
Americans, especially young women and gay/bisexual,

The population with the most disproportionate HIV burden is black MSM, who have HIV

or same-gender loving, men (hereafter referred to as

prevalence rates that are twice those of white MSM (MMWR, vol. 54 no. 24, 2005).There are

men who have sex with men, or MSM).

a number of reasons for this disparity. Evidence suggests that black MSM are tested for HIV

In an era when antiretroviral therapy can help HIV-infected
individuals lead healthier lives, African Americans with
HIV/AIDS are more likely than other racial groups to
postpone medical care and become hospitalized, with the

less frequently and at later stages of their HIV infection, and are also less likely to have been
previously aware that they were HIV positive, than MSM of other racial/ethnic groups. In
addition, black MSM have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases, which are known to
facilitate the transmission and acquisition of HIV (Millett et al., 2006).

result that they are more likely to die from HIV-related

In addition, black MSM are less likely to identify as gay or disclose their sexual behavior to

causes. In fact, more than half of all people who died from

others. Research suggests that the homophobia and related stigma that many men feel for

AIDS-related causes in the U.S. in 2002 were African

being both African American and MSM carries into their experiences with the healthcare

American. And while advances in medicine have resulted

system, and can interfere with accessing HIV testing and other medical services (Malebranche,

in AIDS deaths among whites falling by 19% from 2000

Peterson, Fullilove and Stackhouse, 2004).

to 2004, they declined only 7% among African Americans
(Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006).

This report also focuses on traditional public health approaches to confronting HIV, such as
testing and treatment efforts. In September 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

HIV’s racial divide is not new. Each year when

Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines urging that HIV testing become a routine part of

national surveillance data are released, we see the ever-

medical care for U.S. adolescents and adults (ages 13-64).The CDC’s emphasis on testing is

increasing toll the AIDS epidemic is taking on the

based on evidence that HIV-positive persons who know their HIV status are significantly less

African-American community. Each year, we ask the

likely to engage in HIV risk behaviors than those who are HIV-positive but unaware of their

same question: Why is AIDS hitting black Americans

status, and that finding HIV-infected persons who are unaware of their status will facilitate

hardest? While much of the existing literature focuses

their entry into treatment.While identifying undiagnosed infections is an important goal, we

on quality of care, health care access or individual risk

must look beyond medical interventions as the sole solution to our nation’s problem with

behaviors, we believe that the HIV/AIDS epidemic in

HIV/AIDS. By itself, a national testing strategy will not prevent or eliminate HIV/AIDS,

African-American communities results from a complex

particularly if it results in large numbers of individuals who have no access to care. Simply

set of social, individual and environmental factors. By

put, the epidemic is rapidly outpacing our efforts to control it using standard public health,

examining these underlying causes of African Americans’

infection-control procedures.

vulnerability to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, this report
attempts to provide an answer – and a way forward in
the fight against AIDS.

What is needed? Given the social and economic characteristics of poor African-American
communities, a more systemic approach must be taken to help build stable communities.
Public policies that address the root causes of the health disparities that devastate the African-

One factor that plays a particularly significant role in

American community are urgently needed.These policies must effectively deal not only

fuelling the African-American HIV epidemic is unstable

with unstable housing and incarceration, but also with the poverty and social disadvantages of

housing. When families need to spend too much of their

poor African-American neighborhoods. Policies that address the role that homophobia plays

income on rent and food, medical care and other basic

in driving new HIV infections among black MSM must also be adopted so that programs

necessities may be sacrificed (Freeman, 2002). Family

mitigating that impact can be implemented.

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

7

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Policy Recommendations
Homelessness, housing conditions, risk of incarceration and the concentration of poverty in

3. Eliminate the marginalization of, and reduce stigma

communities of color are more than just “complicating factors” for people being treated for

and discrimination against, black gay and other men

HIV/AIDS.They are the forces that produce marginalized communities and marginalized

who have sex with men.

people. By addressing the underlying factors that create and maintain poor African-American
communities, we can positively change the environment that fuels the black AIDS epidemic.

• There is only one randomly controlled HIV
prevention program, “Many Men, Many Voices”,

The following policy recommendations would enable us to alleviate the root causes of

specifically designed for black MSM. Investing in

the African American HIV/AIDS epidemic, and improve the chances of survival for

research to produce interventions that will work

those living with HIV/AIDS:

for a diverse population of black MSM is essential
to a national prevention effort that will reverse

1. Support the strengthening of stable African-American communities by
addressing the need for more affordable housing.
• Stabilizing housing is one of the most effective methods for reducing HIV-related
morbidity and mortality. Scarcity of affordable housing is often at the root of
residential segregation, school failure for children and a lack of access to health care.
• Expanding federal programs such as Housing Opportunities for Persons With
AIDS (HOPWA). These programs are critical in helping those with AIDS avoid
homelessness, which in turn creates access to medical care and support services.
2. Reduce the impact of incarceration as a driver of new HIV infections within the
African-American community by:
• Providing voluntary, routine HIV testing to prisoners on entry and release.
Policy reforms that establish voluntary, routine HIV testing upon prison entry and
release will help connect those who are infected to treatment and also reduce risk
behaviors that could put others – in prison and in the community – at risk.
• Making HIV prevention education and condoms available in prison facilities.

the course of the epidemic in this population. The
CDC and the National Institutes of Health must
aggressively establish a robust research portfolio to
achieve this goal.
• The empowerment of community leaders and
organizations has been a critical element in our
nation’s effort to combat the HIV epidemic. More
support must be leveraged to develop, promote
and sustain leadership among black MSM and in
organizations serving them. Additionally, sustained
investment must be made to build the capacity
of organizations developed to serve black MSM
in order to effectively change social networks,
behavior and conditions contributing to HIV
infections in this population.
• Efforts should be supported to address homophobia
evidenced through stigma, discrimination and

AIDS cases among the U.S. prison population are more than three times that

violence that creates vulnerability to behaviors and

of the general population (51 per 10,000 compared to 15 per 10,000 in 2003).

conditions associated with risk for HIV infection

Nonprofit organizations, government and public health agencies must be allowed

among black MSM.

to distribute condoms in prison facilities. Ensuring access to condoms in prisons
would not only protect prisoners, but also the health and lives of the people in the
communities to which they will return.

4. Expand HIV prevention education programs,
promote the early identification of HIV
through voluntary, routine testing, and

• Expanding re-entry programs to help formerly incarcerated persons successfully transition
back into society.

connect those in need to treatment and care as
early as possible.

Prisons increasingly hold members of poor communities who are both under-educated
and unemployable. Expanded access to employment training and educational programs

• Far too many African Americans do not have accurate

is necessary to improve their ability to function in society, and to address prisoners’ HIV

information about how HIV is transmitted or can

prevention, substance abuse, mental health and housing needs prior to their release.

be prevented. Culturally relevant HIV prevention
education programs are needed to help African
Americans protect themselves and their partners.

8

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

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INTRODUCTION
• Approximately 250,000 Americans are unaware

Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, African Americans have been

that they have HIV and may unknowingly transmit

overrepresented among those living with and dying from AIDS. Today, the disease

the virus to others. While proper safeguards must

continues to affect African Americans more than any other racial/ethnic group in the

be in place to ensure that HIV testing is always

United States. While African Americans represented 13% of the U.S. population, they

voluntary, expanded HIV testing efforts will help

accounted for half of all Americans living with HIV/AIDS and made up half of new

more people learn their HIV status, and allow

HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2004. The disease also continues to have a disproportionate

those who test positive to seek early treatment and

impact on subgroups of African Americans, especially young women and men who

reduce their risk of transmitting HIV.

have sex with men (CDC, 2005; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006). The number of
African Americans infected with HIV increased from 2001 to 2004, a trend consistent

• One of the main factors contributing to

with every surveillance report generated since efforts to track the AIDS epidemic began

disparate treatment outcomes for African

in 1981 (CDC, 2006; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006).

Americans is that many are diagnosed at late
stages of disease, when it is often too late for

Why does AIDS strike America’s black community hardest? HIV/AIDS is one of a

medications to be effective.

host of other health conditions that disproportionately impacts African Americans.
Access to treatment only partially explains this disparity. African Americans living with

• Community health workers (e.g., lay health advisors,

HIV/AIDS are more likely than whites to have no medical coverage (22% for Africans

peer counselors, health aides) are critical bridges

Americans compared to 17% for whites), and those who do have coverage are much

between physicians and patients in communities where

less likely to be privately insured than whites (14% compared to 44%) (Kaiser Family

mistrust of the health care system exists. Community

Foundation, 2006). But other factors are at work as well: homelessness, drug use, distrust

health workers can serve as “interpreters” who can

of the medical establishment and high rates of incarceration, to name some of the most

effectively communicate with patients about the

significant. Investigating how HIV/AIDS intersects with these other disparities can help

care that is being provided. Such interventions have

us understand why the disease is so prevalent – and so deadly – for African Americans.

repeatedly been found to be effective in clinical
settings in which a multicultural, multiethnic patient

In examining the causes of excess HIV-related morbidity and mortality among African

population is being served.

Americans, this report reviews the current literature on HIV/AIDS. The available body
of research illuminates the relationship between structural forces in American society–

5. Reduce the number of HIV infections in the African-

notably, the incarceration of African-American men and disparate health outcomes for

American community caused by injection drug

African Americans with HIV/AIDS.

use through the expansion of substance abuse
prevention programs, drug treatment and recovery

The 16th volume of the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, published by the CDC in 2005,

services, and clean needle exchange programs.

provided a significant portion of the data used in this report. The surveillance data were

For active injection drug users, in particular, clean

based on estimates of HIV infections from 35 areas – comprising 33 states, Guam and the

needle exchange programs are needed to minimize

U.S.Virgin Islands – that were, at the time of this writing, engaged in reporting both cases

the risk of infection through needle sharing.

of HIV infection as well as cases of AIDS1. These data provide the best available estimate
of the current scope of the epidemic in the United States (CDC, 2005).

• Because one in five (19%) new HIV infections
among African Americans is from injection drug use,

HIV AND AFRICAN AMERICANS: A CLOSE LOOK

education programs are needed to prevent people
from using drugs in the first place, and substance
abuse treatment programs are needed to help those

The CDC estimates that 488,000–557,000 African Americans were living with HIV/AIDS

currently using drugs to quit. For injection drug users

in the United States in 2003. African Americans account for a growing share of AIDS

who currently are addicted, clean needle exchange

diagnoses over time, increasing from 25% of cases diagnosed in 1985 to 49% in 2004.This

programs are needed to minimize the risk of infection

translated into a 2004 AIDS case rate among African-American adults and adolescents that

from sharing unclean needles.

was more than 10 times that of whites (CDC, 2005; Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006).
1

The 35 areas are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana,
Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota,Tennessee,Texas, Utah,Virginia,West
Virginia,Wisconsin,Wyoming, Guam and the U.S.Virgin Islands.

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

9

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Table 1
Racial Disparities and HIV/AIDS:
Estimated New Cases of HIV/AIDS among
Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, 2001-2004

Figure 1
Estimated AIDS Diagnoses & US Population
by Race/Ethnicity, 2004

AIDS Cases
42,514

US Population
293,655,404

White
N (%)

Black
N (%)

Hispanic
N (%)

Total*
N (%)

Males

38,218
(34)

49,704
(44)

22,062
(20)

112,106
(100)

Females

7,262
(16)

30,483
(68)

6,610
(15)

45,146
(100)

Total

45,479
(29)

80,187
(51)

28,673
(18)

157,252
(100)

White, non-Hispanic

28%

69%
African American
49%
13%

Latino
20%

14%

Asian/Pacific Islander
American Indian/
<1% Alaska Native 1%

1%

4%

* Cases from the states that have used name-based HIV
reporting systems for at least four years. Total includes
estimates for Asian/Pacific Islanders and American
Indians/Alaska Natives, which are not shown here.
Source: CDC, MMWR, February 10, 2006

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

In its February 10, 2006 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly
Report (MMWR), which examined racial/ethnic
disparities in diagnoses of HIV/AIDS, the CDC reported:
Although blacks accounted for
approximately 13% of the population of the
33 states during 2001-2004, they accounted
for the majority (80,187 [51%]) of HIV/

Figure 2
AIDS Case Rate per 100,000 Population by Race/Ethnicity for
Adults/Adolescents, 2004

AIDS diagnoses. Blacks accounted for
the greatest percentage of cases diagnosed
among males (44%) and the majority of
cases among females (68%). Among males,
36% of MSM cases, 54% of IDU cases, 39%
of MSM/IDU cases, and 66% of high-

72.1

risk heterosexual contact cases were in
blacks. Among females, 70% of high-risk
U.S. Case Rate = 17.1

heterosexual contact cases and 60% of the
IDU cases were in blacks. Moreover, 69% of
cases of perinatal transmission were among

75.0
7.1

blacks (MMWR, vol. 55 no. 5, 2006).
4.4

9.9

Significantly, African Americans were also dramatically
overrepresented in every age group of diagnosed cases.

African
American

White

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation

Latino

Asian/Pacific American Indian/
Islander
Alaska Native

African Americans comprised 55% of individuals ages
15-24 diagnosed during this time period (MMWR,
vol. 55 no. 5, 2006).
African-American women were also overrepresented.
In every category of transmission they constituted
the majority of cases among all women. The high
rates of HIV/AIDS among African-American

10

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

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women constitute one of the most alarming trends

AFRICAN AMERICANS, HEALTH DISPARITIES AND HIV/AIDS

in the epidemic in recent years. This trend continues
to be particularly visible in the South, where African-

Understanding the significance of the health disparities of minority communities is

American women constituted 72% of all reported cases.

essential for assessing the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on African Americans.

African-American MSM were also disproportionately
more likely to be HIV-positive than white MSM (Millet,
et al., 2006). Although the majority of men who were
living with AIDS as a result of male-to-male sex in 2004
were white (52%), preliminary data from the National
HIV Behavioral Surveillance survey of MSM in five
cities showed an HIV prevalence that was significantly
higher among African-American men (46%) as
compared with whites (21%) or Hispanics (17%). More
significantly, in this study 67% of African-American
respondents were not aware of their infection, compared
to 48% of Hispanic respondents and 18% of white

In its 2002 report, Unequal Treatment, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) traced the
dimensions of racial health disparities in the United States. In addition to having higher
rates of morbidity and mortality for conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease,
some forms of cancer and HIV/AIDS (MMWR, 2005), health care received by African
Americans and Hispanics was of lower quality and more difficult to access than that
received by whites (IOM, 2002).
Turning back the U.S. AIDS epidemic, the IOM maintained, will require significantly
reducing the number of new infections through HIV prevention efforts and, for those who
are infected, ensuring access to combination antiretroviral drug treatment (often referred to as
highly active antiretroviral therapy or “HAART”) and necessary social services.

respondents (MMWR, vol. 54 no. 24, 2005).

Researchers using mathematical modeling have suggested that, with HAART, the HIV/

Finally, African Americans were overrepresented among

AIDS epidemic might be contained. In a 2002 study modeling the impact of AIDS

the estimated deaths among persons living with AIDS

drugs on the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic,Velasco-Hernandez and colleagues

during 1999-2003 (Figure 3), a period in which they out-

concluded that antiretroviral medications “can function as an effective HIV-prevention

numbered those in every racial/ethnic category each year.

tool, even with high levels of drug resistance and risky sex…even a high-prevalence

Figure 3
Estimated Deaths of Persons Living with
AIDS by year: 1999-2003

HIV epidemic could be eradicated using current ARVs” (Velasco-Hernandez,
Gershengorn and Blower, 2002).
But the converse also appears to be true. Failure to make appropriate treatment and
service resources available will likely contribute to the continued expansion of the
epidemic. The CDC reported that in 2003 only about half (55%) of 15- to 49-year olds
who should be on antiretroviral therapy – approximately 268,000 individuals – were
actually receiving it because of late diagnosis or other factors (CDC, 2005).
Still, between 1995 (when the use of combination antiretroviral treatment became
common for HIV disease) and 2004, the overall U.S. AIDS death rate declined by 70%
(51,297 deaths in 1995 to 15,798 in 2004) (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006). With
reduced mortality, and an estimated 40,000 new infections each year, the number of
individuals living with HIV has increased. Currently, the CDC estimates that there are
more than 1.1 million people living with HIV – more than at any time in the epidemic
(CDC, 2005). As this pool of infected people increases, the odds will also increase that
the epidemic will maintain itself and expand in scope and significance (Wilson, Gore,
Greenblatt, Cohen, et al., 2004; R. Wallace, D. Wallace and Andrews, 1995; Wallace,
Fisher and Fullilove, 1997). Simply put, as more people become infected, the chances
increase that some infected individuals – particularly those unaware that they have
HIV– will transmit the virus to others. Thus, an already significant epidemic among
African Americans will, in all likelihood, increase in scope.

Black, not Hispanic
White, not Hispanic
Hispanic Asian Pacific Islander
American/Indian/Alaska Native

The burden that an ever-growing HIV epidemic will place on the health care resources
of African-American communities is difficult to calculate, particularly because that
system is already reeling under the weight of the excess morbidity and mortality from
other conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is

Source: CDC, HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2005

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part of a group of health conditions that, together, create significant disparities between

Homophobia and Transmission of HIV

the well-being of African Americans and that of the general public in the United States
(MMWR, vol. 54 no. 1, 2005; MMWR, vol. 55 no. 5, 2006).

African-American men have the highest overall rates of
HIV diagnosis of any population. In 2004, the HIV rate

Marginalized Social Status and Stigma Contribute to Disease

among black men was more than seven times higher
than white men and almost twice as high as black

Medical diagnosis and care are essential for reducing morbidity and mortality in any

women. From 2001-2004, black MSM accounted for

community. When access to care is difficult, the management of any health condition

roughly half (49%) of HIV diagnoses among African-

becomes more challenging. If the management of a health condition is further

American men (CDC, 2005).

complicated because the patient is a member of a marginalized group, then there is
greater likelihood that his or her illness will be poorly controlled and lead to a greater

Homophobia and stigma are important contributing

risk of death. What marks poor communities of color more than any other set of

factors to this disparity. Until recently, homosexual

characteristics is the degree to which the poverty of their residents creates and enforces

intercourse was defined as a crime in the penal code

marginalized social status (Wilson, 1987; Wilson, 1996).

of many states before being struck down by the
U.S. Supreme Court (Lawrence v. Texas). However,

Scientific evidence supports the assertion that the overrepresentation of African

it still remains legal to discriminate against gay,

Americans among those infected with and affected by HIV is linked to marginalized

lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in housing,

social status. Hence, in communities of already marginalized residents, it is the

employment and public accommodations across much

marginalized among the marginalized – gay men, drug users, prisoners and formerly

of the United States. Against this legal framework,

incarcerated persons, the homeless, those living in extreme poverty and those who

community and religious beliefs often stigmatize

suffer from a variety of mental health disabilities – who are most likely to experience

homosexuality as both immoral but also as anti-black.

high rates of HIV-related mortality.

Due to these factors and those of racism, black men
in the broader community face multiple societal

Stigma is also a part of the pattern of marginalization that affects and influences

interactions that can affect their health.

patterns of morbidity and mortality among African Americans. The Kaiser Family
Foundation conducts surveys of HIV/AIDS awareness among the general public

Black MSM are less likely to identify as gay or disclose

every two years. The results consistently show significant levels of ignorance

their sexual behavior to others, which can negatively

about AIDS and how the disease is transmitted. For example, while many African

affect their experiences with the healthcare system.

Americans know that HIV can be transmitted through unprotected intercourse (99%)

Malebranche and colleagues took a close look at the

and that increasing condom use is very important to HIV prevention efforts (89%),

role that race and sexual identity have on the healthcare

far too many still believe that HIV can be transmitted by kissing (38% of African

experiences of HIV-positive and HIV-negative African

Americans, compared to 33% of Hispanics and 26% of whites), sharing a drinking

Americans. Researchers convened focus groups with

glass with someone who has HIV (25% of African Americans, compared to 17% of

81 black MSM in New York and Atlanta. The group

Hispanics and 15% of whites) or touching a toilet seat (13% of African Americans,

was evenly divided between those who self-reported as

compared to 14% of Latinos and 8% of whites). Kaiser concludes that such ignorance

being HIV-negative or HIV-positive. The study found

may well be at the core of much HIV-related stigma, inasmuch as a failure to fully

that the social stigma the men felt in their daily lives for

understand HIV contributes to both myths and misconceptions about the epidemic

being both African American and MSM carried into

(Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006).

their experiences in the healthcare system, affecting
healthcare utilization, HIV testing, communication and

In rural areas, as noted poignantly by Levenson in his landmark work The Secret

adherence behaviors (Malebranche, Peterson, Fullilove

Epidemic (2004), the generalized stigma associated with HIV infection, irrespective

and Stackhouse, 2004).

of the sex or sexual orientation of the patient, is also a major barrier to providing
effective treatment of HIV. Nonetheless, MSM – both those whose sexual orientation

The study concluded that,“Issues around distrust, racial

and behaviors are hidden from others (including men on the “Down Low”) and those

and sexual orientation stigma, and fear of medical facilities,

who are open about their sexual orientation – face particular challenges in their efforts

can serve as barriers to accessing services and open

to live and function with HIV (Herek, 1999; Malebranche, Peterson, Fullilove and

communication...This internalized displacement makes

Stackhouse, 2004; Malebranche, 2005).

healthcare access difficult because BMSM [black MSM] do
not feel comfortable within medical facilities themselves,

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not simply because of geographical, transportation, financial

also facilitate the transmission and acquisition of HIV (CDC, STD Surveillance, 2005).

or insurance barriers” (Malebranche, Peterson, Fullilove

Syphilis, like many other STDs, facilitates infection with HIV, increasing transmission of

and Stackhouse, 2004).These findings have important

the virus at least two-to-five fold (CDC, Syphilis & MSM, 2004).

implications for containing the HIV epidemic.
Over the past several years, increases in syphilis have been reported in several
The considerable stigma and homophobia experienced

major U.S. cities with large populations of MSM. In these recent outbreaks, high

by many black MSM can also have an impact on their

rates of HIV co-infection were documented, ranging from 20% to 70% (CDC,

self-esteem and behaviors. One study found a reduction

Syphilis & MSM, 2004).

in self-esteem among black MSM who attended churches
that fostered homophobia. For some black MSM, this

Nationally, the rate of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis among males increased

loss of self-esteem “undermined the individual’s ability

81% between 2000 and 2004. Increasing cases of P&S syphilis among MSM are

to practice safe sex, seek medical care in a timely fashion,

believed to be largely responsible for the overall increase. The CDC estimates that MSM

or follow other health practices essential to well-being”

comprised 64% of P&S syphilis cases in 2004, up from just 5% in 1999. Among black

(Fullilove and Fullilove, 1999). One of the study’s

men, the syphilis rate increased 23% between 2003 and 2004, while the rate among

conclusions was that “Rebuilding self-esteem is an

black women rose only 2.4%, suggesting higher overall increases among black MSM

important task for those involved with AIDS treatment

(CDC, STD Surveillance, 2005).

and prevention” (Fullilove and Fullilove, 1999).

HIV TESTING AND THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
Additionally, younger black MSM who do identify as gay
are often subject to homelessness resulting from rejection

With the 2003 launch of CDC’s “Advancing HIV Prevention” initiative, the federal

in the family and violence which can contribute to sexual

government’s focus on HIV prevention has placed an increased emphasis on testing. More

risk-taking, survival sex, excessive alcohol or drug use and

recently, in September 2006, the CDC issued guidelines recommending that all American

behavior associated with depression.

adolescents and adults (ages 13-64) be tested for HIV as part of their routine medical care.

There is reason to believe that difference in HIV rates

There are several reasons for the recent increased focus on testing. The first is that

for MSM of different races/ethnicities may involve more

one-quarter of the estimated 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States–

than risk behavior alone. In a 2006 review of the literature

180,000 to 280,000 individuals – are unaware of their HIV status and may transmit HIV

over the past two decades, Millett et al. found that black

without knowing that they are putting partners at risk. The CDC has found that once

MSM were as, or less, likely than other MSM to engage

people learn they are infected with HIV, most will take steps to reduce transmission to

in unprotected anal intercourse, the single most important

sex or drug-using partners. Another reason is the evidence that finding HIV-infected

risk factor. They also have the same number or a smaller

persons who are unaware of their status will facilitate their entry into treatment. To help

number of male sexual partners than other MSM (Millett

implement this guidance, the CDC is funding the availability of new rapid HIV tests to

et al., 2006). So why are black MSM so much more

ensure that those who are tested know their results as soon as possible.

susceptible to HIV and its repercussions than their white
or Latino counterparts?

Compared to other racial groups, more African Americans believe that HIV testing
should be treated just like routine screening for other diseases and should be included

The data indicate that black MSM are tested less frequently

as part of regular exams (71% of African Americans vs. 63% of Hispanics and 65% of

and at later stages of their HIV infection, and are also less

whites) (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2006). Nonetheless, data suggest that one-third

likely to have been previously aware that they were HIV

of African Americans have never been tested for HIV, with many believing that they

positive than MSM of other racial/ethnic groups (Millett et

are not at risk (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2004). A recent CDC study also found that

al., 2006).This means many HIV-positive black MSM may

more than two-thirds of HIV-positive African-American MSM were unaware of their

not be accessing antiretroviral treatment, which can help

infection (MMWR, 2006).

them to remain healthy. Additionally, they may unknowingly
transmit HIV to sexual and drug-using partners.

The perception among some African Americans that they are not at risk has been cited
as a major factor in the failure to be tested for HIV infection or seek treatment. For

Black MSM – both HIV-positive and HIV-negative–

example, in a survey of 5,750 MSM who were recruited from venues in seven major

also have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases

urban centers in the United States and then tested for HIV infection, 91% of the

such as syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, which can

African-American men in the sample who were HIV-positive were not aware that they

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

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were infected, compared to 60% of the white, HIV-infected respondents in the survey

1999) and are often unaware of the fact that they are HIV

(XIV International AIDS Conference, 2002). The fact that 39% of African Americans

infected (CDC, 2005; Smith, Brutus & Cathcart, 2003).The

infected with HIV are diagnosed approximately one year before they develop AIDS

CDC’s HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report for 2005 reports that

suggests that timely awareness of infection status may save lives (CDC, 2005).

39% of HIV-infected African Americans were tested within
one year of being diagnosed with AIDS.The prognosis for

Challenges to Implementing Large-Scale HIV Testing

survival for patients who initiate treatment at this stage is
much less optimistic than for those who are diagnosed and

A national strategy to increase the number of individuals who are tested for HIV

treated early (McNaghten, Hanson, Dworkin, et al., 1999).

infection and admitted to treatment is an important component of a national plan
enough and large-scale testing efforts are likely to face a number of challenges.

Social and Environmental Factors That
Diminish Treatment Success

First, as noted in an IOM report on the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources

Because the management of HIV disease is so complex,

Emergency (CARE) Act – the comprehensive federal AIDS treatment program – if

it is easy to understand why HIV care and research

testing initiatives are successful in increasing the numbers of individuals who are

has devoted considerable attention to identifying

diagnosed and in need of treatment, there is no certainty that funding for new treatment

individual-level risk factors that explain who is at risk,

slots or for medications for low-income patients will be available (IOM, 2005; National

who becomes infected, who is best served by HIV

ADAP Monitoring Project, 2005). Thus, wide-scale HIV testing efforts to make

clinical care and who is most likely to experience

Americans aware of their HIV status could create an ethical dilemma: a large number of

treatment failure. The focus on individual patients is

people who find out they have HIV may have nowhere to turn for the medical care that

understandable, since it is the individual who is treated

can improve chances for survival.

in the clinical setting. But the trends in the literature

to prevent and ultimately eliminate HIV/AIDS. But testing alone clearly will not be

on HIV care have made it clear that because treating
In addition, there is the question of sufficient resources to undertake wide-scale HIV

HIV disease is a complex enterprise for physicians, it

testing. According to Cohen and colleagues (2005):

is easy to overlook factors that arise from the patient’s
social environment that limit the effectiveness of HIV

The new CDC strategy calls for increasing the percentage of people who know they

clinical care. The following excerpt, taken from an article

are infected from 75% to 95%. Achieving this goal would require that an additional

published by Metsch and colleagues (2004), eloquently

160,000 HIV-positive people learn of their status. If the prevalence in the tested

describes this challenge:

population were 1-3%, then 5.3 -16 million people would need to be screened
– more than could be screened by shifting the entire CDC HIV prevention budget

Several real and perceived barriers exist

to the four new prevention strategies (Cohen,Wu and Farley, 2005).

that contribute to suboptimal provision
of transmission reduction counseling to

FACTORS THAT CAUSE POOR OUTCOMES FOR
AFRICAN AMERICANS WITH HIV

HIV-positive patients. For example, current
antiretroviral therapy requires near perfect
adherence, and thus providers may be spending

The efficacy of antiretroviral medications in treating HIV disease and in reducing HIV-

a significant amount of time counseling patients

related mortality has been established since 1996 (Palella, Delaney, Moorman, et al., 1998;

about the need to take their medications, leaving

Palella, Chmiel, Moorman, et al., 2002). Conventional medical wisdom asserts that when

little time for discussion of risk reduction. In

appropriate treatment guidelines are followed and patients adhere to the regimens that

addition, physicians place different levels of

have been prescribed, HIV/AIDS can be managed much like any other serious, chronic

emphasis on provision of this information to

disease. Why then, in the era of HAART, are African Americans at such elevated risk for

newly diagnosed and established patients. In the

HIV-related mortality? Some of the key factors are discussed below.

case of newly diagnosed patients, our findings
indicated that perceived time constraints, patient

Diagnosis at Advanced Disease Stages

load, and physicians’ perception that patients
had psychosocial problems were barriers to the

In general, the studies confirm the assertion that African Americans are more likely to enter

delivery of transmission reduction counseling.

treatment with advanced HIV disease (CDC, 2005; Fleishman, Gebo, Reilly, et al., 2005;

Consequently, physicians with larger patient loads

Gebo, Kelly & Diener-West, 2001;Welch & Morse, 2001; Shapiro, Morton, McCaffrey, et al.,

and those with a higher proportion of patients

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with mental health or substance abuse problems

Distrust of the Medical Establishment

may have less time to address prevention issues.
However, these patients are particularly in

Bogart and Thorburn (2005) conducted one of the largest surveys of African Americans

need of HIV prevention counseling, in that

concerning their belief in conspiracy theories about the origins of HIV/AIDS and the

mental health and substance use problems can

manner in which the African-American community’s AIDS epidemic is being addressed.

have negative effects in terms of medication

They found strong endorsement of many of these beliefs and reported a significant

adherence, viral load suppression, and HIV drug

correlation between endorsing conspiracy beliefs and negative attitudes towards, and reported

resistance (Metsch, Pereya, del Rio, et al., 2004).

inconsistent use of, condoms among men in their survey. Fullilove (2001), in an analytic essay
about belief in conspiracy theories among African Americans, suggested that attitudes toward

The challenge of treating HIV is further complicated

HIV testing and treatment may be affected by a perception that AIDS is a plot to destroy the

when the patient is impoverished and living in socially

African-American community. Other authors have similarly observed a strong relationship

marginal circumstances (Smith, Brutus, Cathcart, et

between mistrust of institutions and participation in AIDS research (Sengupta, Strauss,

al., 2003; Moss, Hahn, Perry, et al., 2004). Working to

Ronald, et al., 2000). And in a widely cited paper,Thomas and Quinn (1991) suggested that

change the factors that create marginalization must be

the lingering memory of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and other negative impressions held

part of the solution.

by African Americans of the U.S. health care system may have significant impact on the
effectiveness of HIV prevention programs.

Competing Financial Needs
Nessel and Primm (2004) conducted opinion surveys on AIDS’ origins among men and
The HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study reported

women who work in the field of HIV treatment and prevention at a variety of national

that failure to have transportation or the means of

and international medical conferences.The questions included items on the role of the U.S.

meeting a variety of competing needs strongly predicted

government in causing the HIV pandemic or in being responsible for withholding the

access to and use of medical care (Cunningham,

cure for AIDS. In their analysis of 1,440 completed surveys, the authors found high levels of

Anderson, Katz, et al., 1999). As Cunningham and

distrust in conventional explanations for the origins of AIDS.The authors concluded that such

colleagues observed:

levels of distrust could have an impact on the general willingness of African Americans to be
tested for HIV or listen to a physician’s advice about adhering to HIV-related treatments.

In this nationally representative sample of
persons receiving care for HIV infection,

Although it is possible that mistrust of institutions and the health care system account

we found that competing subsistence

for much of the failure of at-risk African Americans to be tested or treated, these beliefs

needs and other barriers were commonly

often stem from the general lack of access that African Americans have to medical

reported: greater than one third of the sample

care, as well as to the poor outcomes that they experience in many of their encounters

(representing >83,000 persons nationally)

with clinicians (IOM, 2002). In fact, it is possible that the mistrust described in studies

went without or postponed care at least once

of HIV conspiracy theories simply reflect African-American patients’ reactions to the

in a 6-month period as a result of at least one

manner in which they are treated by clinicians, many of whom are biased with regard

of the four reasons we assessed. In addition,

to their expectations of their African-American patients:

an estimated 17,000 persons in the United

In a study based on actual clinical encounters, researchers found that doctors

States who were receiving regular care went

rated black patients as less intelligent, less educated, more likely to abuse drugs

without food, clothing, or housing because

and alcohol, more likely to fail to comply with medical advice, more likely

they needed the money for medical care. In

to lack social support, and less likely to participate in cardiac rehabilitation

general, non-whites, drug users, and persons

than white patients, even after patients’ income, education, and personality

in lower socioeconomic groups were more

characteristics were taken into account (IOM, 2002).

likely to report these problems than those in
other groups.

The Role of Injection Drug Use in HIV’s Spread

The lack of money and access to a variety of daily

As noted earlier in this report, African-American patients who are most likely to

necessities has been consistently shown to influence

experience higher rates of mortality are also more likely to be members of highly

HIV risk behavior as well as use of HIV-related services

marginalized groups. In all too many cases, being a member of any one marginalized

(Messeri, Aidala, Lee, et al., 2002).

group is a risk factor for becoming a member of one or more marginalized groups. This
chain of marginalization often begins with drug use.

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

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Drug use is a particularly important risk factor for HIV infection among African
Americans and Hispanics. Injection drug use (IDU) accounts for more than 19% of

Inadequate Government Funding for
HIV/AIDS Services

new African-American HIV infections in this country (CDC, 2006). HIV infection
associated with injection drug use was 2.4 times and 2.6 times more prevalent among

While lack of health insurance is certainly a major

African Americans and Hispanics, respectively, than whites living with HIV/AIDS in

barrier in African Americans’ access to HIV services

the United States in 2004.

(IOM, 2002), lack of government funding to provide
services through legislation such as the Ryan White

IDU is associated with high rates of hospitalization for HIV disease as well as poor

CARE Act remains an obstacle. The CARE Act is the

treatment outcomes (Betz, Gebo and Barber, 2005: Fleishman, Gebo, Reilly, et al., 2005;

comprehensive federal funding program designed to

Welch and Morse, 2001). The HIV Research Network, a federally funded network

promote access to treatment, appropriate medications

of HIV providers, has yielded a number of important studies of those seeking in-

through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)

patient and out-patient care for HIV disease. In a study of more than 8,000 patients

and ancillary social services, such as housing through

in six cities, Betz and colleagues found that African-American women accounted for

the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS

a disproportionately high percentage of AIDS-defining illness hospitalizations among

(HOPWA) program.

women. Moreover, African Americans were more likely to be hospitalized with comorbid mental health conditions than whites. They conclude: “These results emphasize

While essential, the CARE Act has not proven to be

the significant burden of co-morbid disease resulting from drug and alcohol use by

a panacea for meeting the needs of those living with

adults infected with HIV, and support previous findings of an increased prevalence of

HIV disease. A 2005 IOM study, “Public Financing

substance abuse and psychiatric disorders among individuals with HIV” (Betz, Gabo

and Delivery of HIV/AIDS Care: Securing the

and Barber, 2005).

Legacy of Ryan White,” concluded that current
public funding of HIV/AIDS care under the CARE

Increased access to quality drug prevention and treatment programs is needed to

Act was, at best, a patchwork of services and access to

reduce the number of African Americans who put themselves at risk of acquiring

necessary medications:

HIV by sharing contaminated needles. For those currently addicted, needle exchange
programs have been shown to be an effective HIV prevention method. However,

Current public financing strategies for

a federal ban in place since 1989 prohibits the use of federal funds to support such

HIV care have provided care and extended

programs. Opponents of needle exchange programs argue that such efforts endorse or

the lives of many low-income individuals.

could encourage injection drug use.Yet seven federally funded reports agree that access

Significant disparities remain, however, in

to sterile syringes does not encourage people to increase or initiate drug use (Harm

assuring access to the standard of care for

Reduction Coalition, 2001).

HIV across geographic and demographic
populations. The current federal-state

A study of HIV cases in Baltimore, a city with a large African-American and IDU

partnership for financing HIV care has been

population, found that the percentage of HIV cases attributed to IDU decreased from

unresponsive to the fact that HIV/AIDS

60% of all cases in 1994 to 41% in 2003 after the city instituted a needle-exchange

is a national epidemic with consequences

program. Nationally, a study by the National Institutes of Health and the Institute of

that spill across state borders. State Medicaid

Medicine demonstrated that needle exchange programs contribute to 80% reductions

programs that provide a significant

in risk behaviors among IDUs and at least a 30% reduction in HIV transmission

proportion of coverage for HIV care have

(AIDS Action, 2001).

been widely varying resources and priorities,
which in turn produce an uneven and

Despite the ban on federal funds, all states except New Jersey currently allow legal

therefore ineffective approach to managing

access to syringes. The percentage of New Jersey’s AIDS cases attributed to IDU is

the epidemic (IOM, 2005).

almost double the national average (44% compared to 24% nationally). As of October
2006, a bill was pending in the New Jersey legislature that would sanction state funding
for needle exchange programs (Kaiser Family Foundation, State Health Facts, 2005).

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF POVERTY
AND SEGREGATION
Even today, the United States remains in many ways a
racially and economically segregated country in which
poverty is disproportionately concentrated in African-

16

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American and Hispanic neighborhoods (U.S. Census,

Figure 4

2005). In a 2003 study by Anderson, et al., the authors
describe this phenomenon:
Social, political, and economic forces have
historically concentrated large numbers of
lower-income African Americans in central
cities, and continued racial discrimination in
housing markets impedes their movement
out of these areas. Despite a reduction in
racial segregation over recent decades, African
Americans remain highly over-represented
within the populations of impoverished
neighborhoods. In 1990, 17.4% of all
African American residents of the country’s
metropolitan areas lived in extreme poverty
neighborhoods, compared with only 1.4% of

Source: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Health Disparities in
New York City, 2004.

all white residents. At the same time, within
the 100 largest central cities, 24.2% of all

The same concentration of poverty and HIV can be seen in neighborhoods in other parts of

African Americans, but only 3.2% of whites,

the country.The District of Columbia, which has the nation’s highest AIDS case rate –

lived in extreme poverty neighborhoods,

162.4 per 100,000 in 2002, compared to 14.8 per 100,000 nationwide, and 60% of whose

with African Americans representing more

residents are African American – is another example.The District is heavily segregated, with

than 50% of the population in these areas.

57% of its black residents living in just three of its eight wards,Wards 5, 7 and 8 – the city’s

(Anderson, et al., 2003)

poorest. In Wards 7 and 8, more than 90% of the population is African American (District of
Columbia DOH, 2004).The AIDS case rate among black women in Ward 8 is 83 per 10,000,

Although health and disease are characteristics of individuals,

compared to 63 per 10,000 for District women overall.

health disparities are seen in those areas, both urban and
rural, where many African Americans live.This can be seen

Other cities with large, geographically and economically segregated African-American

when patterns of health disparities are aggregated by race/

populations are similarly hard hit by HIV/AIDS. Los Angeles County has more

ethnic group and by community.

residents living in poverty than any other large metropolitan area in the United States,
and is also home to the nation’s largest county jail (LAC Department of Health Services

Cancers, cardiovascular disease, sexually transmitted

and Public Health, 2004). In Los Angeles County, HIV infection rates are also highest

diseases, homicides and violent victimizations are more

for African Americans (81 cases per 100,000 for blacks compared to 36, 33 and 11 per

prevalent in poor neighborhoods of color than they are

100,000, respectively, for Hispanics, whites and Asians). Baltimore, whose population is

in more affluent communities (Task Force, 2003; New

64% African American, follows Washington, DC in terms of AIDS death rate

York City Department of Health [NYC DOH], 2004).

(117 and 162.4 per 100,000, respectively). And in Chicago, where African Americans
accounted for 60% of new AIDS diagnoses in 2004, the AIDS diagnosis rate was more

New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. HIV epidemic

than three times that of whites and twice that of Hispanics (Chicago Department of

and the nation’s largest city, is a prime example. New

Health, 2005).

York has more cases of persons living with HIV/AIDS
and more AIDS-related mortality than any other urban

The Rural HIV Epidemic

area in the United States (CDC, 2006; NYC DOH,
2006). Figure 4 contains two maps illustrating deaths

Poverty, segregation and disease burden aren’t confined to urban areas, of course, and HIV

from AIDS and diabetes, both common causes of

disproportionately strikes African Americans in rural areas, particularly in the Southeast.

death among the poor. These maps show that the city’s
poorest neighborhoods, which are heavily populated by

In 1999, 22% of new AIDS cases in the Deep South (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana,

African Americans, have the highest rates of AIDS- and

Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina) were in non-metropolitan areas–

diabetes-related deaths (NYC DOH, 2004).

nearly three times the percentage in other Southern states and the North Central

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

17

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region, more than five times the percentage in the West and more than seven times that

Perhaps most important of all, with a reduction in drug

in the Northeast. In these Southern states, where the percentage of African Americans

use and criminal activity, the risks of incarceration for

in the population is the highest in the country, half of African Americans live below

community residents would also decrease. As will be

200% of the poverty line and they have significantly less access to healthcare than

described, incarceration is a driving force in maintaining

people of other races and ethnicities (Reif, Geonnotti, Whetten, 2006).

the HIV/AIDS epidemic in these communities; therefore,
stabilizing housing and stabilizing neighborhoods so that

In a landmark study of rural, HIV-positive African Americans ages 18-59 in North

they have less crime becomes one of the most effective

Carolina with heterosexually acquired HIV infection, study participants were

methods for reducing HIV-related morbidity and mortality.

substantially more likely than control groups to be poor, undereducated, have
been homeless in the past 10 years, report concerns about having enough food for
themselves and their families in the past month and have been incarcerated. They

Impact of Affordable Housing on
Community Desegregation

also reported more lifetime sex partners, higher rates of exchanged sex, higher rates
of STD diagnosis, more drug use, more partners who were injection drug users and

The disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS in urban

more concurrent sexual relationships in the past five years (Adimora, Schoenbach,

African-American communities is, as has been suggested

Martinson, Coyne-Beasley, et al., 2006).

in this report, a function of the same set of forces that
create residential segregation, the concentration of

THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF UNSTABLE HOUSING

poverty in segregated communities and the geographical
concentration of health disparities. New York City, one

Homelessness is the most extreme form of a growing national problem: the

of the nation’s most racially segregated urban centers,

increasingly inadequate supply of affordable housing. Increasing the availability of

also has one of the most segregated HIV epidemics.

affordable housing, reducing residential segregation and decreasing the number of

As noted in Table 2, rates of persons living with HIV/

households living in extreme poverty are key goals of the Department of Housing and

AIDS in selected, largely African-American/Latino

Urban Development’s (HUD) 2000-2006 Strategic Plan (HUD, 2000).

neighborhoods of New York City can be represented as
a percent of the community’s total population.

When families need to spend too much of their income on rent and food, medical
care and other basic necessities may be sacrificed (Freeman, 2002). Family residential
instability is associated with school failure for children, a lack of access to preventive
health care and the aggravation of a host of chronic health conditions ranging from

Table 2
HIV/AIDS Prevalence in Select New York City
Neighborhoods, 2004

cardiovascular disease to HIV/AIDS (Anderson, St. Charles and Fullilove, 2003).
Population Diagnosed with HIV (%)

Unstable housing and extreme poverty exert enormous pressures on the social

Bronx

1.2

functioning of neighborhoods. Crime tends to flourish, particularly drug-related offenses.

Crotona-Tremont

2.1

These trends are particularly evident among young men (Fagan, 2004). The prevalence

Morrisania

2.4

of violent crime has an enormous effect on the perceptions of residents that it is safe to

Mott Haven

2.3

walk, shop and interact with their neighbors (Klinenberg, 2004). Moreover, the prospect
of traveling long distances through unsafe neighborhoods to seek clinical services is a
factor in the failure to seek medical care for a variety of health conditions (Fullilove,
Fullilove, Stevens and Green, 2001). Hence, increasing the confidence of residents of
poor neighborhoods that they can move about freely and can interact freely with their
neighbors will increase the social cohesion of the community (Fullilove, 1998).
One obvious impact of increased social cohesion will be increased “social capital”
available to children and their families (Fullilove, Green and Fullilove, 2000). In this

Brooklyn

1.0

Bedford-Stuyvesant

1.8

East New York

1.4

Manhattan

2.0

Central Harlem

2.6

East Harlem

2.6

Source: New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene, 2006

context, social capital refers to benefits that result from membership in social networks

It is impossible to conceive of effective HIV prevention

that are often intangible (e.g., advice about how to get a job, providing a referral to a

and treatment interventions that do not also target the

person or a service, etc.). As the quality of neighborhood life improves, many of the

environmental forces that drive the epidemic and that

risks associated with adolescent drug use and sexual risk behaviors are also reduced

comprise efforts to treat it effectively. Thus, a focus on

(Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn, 2000).

reducing neighborhood segregation, increasing the pool

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of affordable housing, and intervening to assist residents

There have also been studies that specifically address race and treatment outcomes

to make their communities safer will significantly

and adherence to HIV treatment regimens, which is crucial to the effectiveness of

improve the health of community residents:

antiretroviral treatment. Moss and colleagues (2004) examined adherence to HAART
in a 12-month prospective study of 148 homeless or unstably housed individuals in San

The importance of housing policy that attempts

Francisco. They found that “African-American ethnicity predicted both discontinuation

to deconcentrate neighborhood poverty while

of therapy and low adherence in those who continued to receive therapy. Adherence in

providing affordable housing to low-income

African-American subjects was 60%, compared with 81% in all other subjects” (Moss,

families can be seen in the strong emphasis

Hahn, Perry, et al., 2004).

placed on income mixing within the HOPE VI
Urban Revitalization Demonstration Program

Given the social and environmental forces that drive the HIV/AIDS epidemic as well

(Salama, 1999), the federal government’s program

as a host of other health disparities, working to improve housing and neighborhood

for the physical and social revitalization of

quality of life will have obvious benefits for improving both community and overall

distressed public housing. Such an emphasis is in

public health. As the National AIDS Housing Coalition states, “Stable, affordable

sharp contrast to the public housing program’s

housing offers the best opportunity for persons living with HIV/AIDS to access

record of concentrating poverty by routinely

drug therapies and treatments and supportive services that will enhance the quality

constructing developments in impoverished

of life for themselves and their families. When people are housed, they can access and

areas and reserving units for the poorest of

adhere to drug treatments and therapies and require fewer hospitalizations and less

households, practices which are believed to be

emergency room care” (National AIDS Housing Coalition, 2006). Stable housing is,

largely responsible for many of public housing’s

therefore, a cornerstone of HIV prevention and care. Policies that improve the ability

most recognized failures: environments of

of individuals to acquire stable housing will, in turn, stabilize the communities in

violence, substance abuse, welfare dependency,

which they live.

teen pregnancy, unemployment, and lowered
educational achievement among youth

IMPACT OF INCARCERATION ON HIV/AIDS IN BLACK AMERICA

(Anderson, et al., 2003).
America’s prison population – 2.13 million in 2004 – is larger today than ever before,
An examination of HIV treatment outcomes for the

and incarceration rates among ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately

homeless, conducted by the National Housing and

high. Nationwide, 41% of prisoners are African American (Golembeski and Fullilove,

HIV/AIDS Research Summit, highlights the linkage

2005). For these reasons, America’s prisons play a central role in the social, economic

between marginal social status and health (Gelberg,

and health disparities experienced by the African-American community, and the HIV/

Gallager and Anderson, 1997):

AIDS epidemic is merely one consequence of the close connection between prisons
and poor communities of color (Lemmelle, 2003).

Indeed, research shows that housing is a matter
of life and death for persons living with HIV/

Some 90% of prisoners are male. In 2004, African-American males were seven times more

AIDS. The all-cause death rate among homeless

likely than white males and three times more likely than Hispanic males to be imprisoned

HIV-positive persons is five times the rate of

(4,919 prisoners per 100,000 black males compared to 1,717 prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic

death among housed persons with HIV/AIDS:

males and 717 prisoners per 100,000 white males, respectively) (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau

5.3 to 8 deaths per 100 person years for HIV-

of Statistics, 2005). In addition, African Americans are significantly more likely to go to

positive homeless persons, compared to 1 to 2

prison if arrested than whites (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004; Mauer, 1999;The Sentencing

deaths per 100 person years for HIV-positive

Project, 2005).The federal government’s “War on Drugs,” which led to dramatic increases

persons who are housed (National AIDS

in the U.S. prison and jail population, also contributed to higher rates of imprisonment of

Housing Coalition, 2005).

African Americans (Mauer, 1999).

More recently, a study presented at the XVI International

Hammett and colleagues examined data on infectious diseases among prisoners in 1997

AIDS Conference found that homeless individuals suffering

and estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 people living with HIV infection passed

from HIV/AIDS were in urgent need of additional social

through a U.S. correctional facility - approximately one-quarter of all people living with

support and better care in order to achieve improved

HIV in the country (Hammett, Harmon and Rhodes, 2002).They also estimated that other

treatment outcomes (Kidder, et al, 2006). African Americans

infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) and hepatitis C, which are often co-morbid with

comprised 70% of study subjects.

HIV, were overrepresented within correctional institution populations. Some 29-43% of

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

19

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people in the United States living with hepatitis C and 40% of the persons living with TB

facility. Over a 16-year period (July 1988 through

disease passed through correctional facilities in 1997 (Hammett, Harmon and Rhodes, 2002).

February 2006), a total of 88 male prisoners who

Hammet et al. further note:

were known to have negative HIV tests upon entry
into prison subsequently tested HIV positive. While

Prevalence statistics for prisoners by race and ethnicity are generally lacking, so

the 88 men who seroconverted during the time they

it was not possible to develop estimates of disease burden by racial and ethnic

were incarcerated accounted for only 10% of all HIV-

group. However, the disproportionate incarceration rates experienced by African

positive prisoners in Georgia prisons during the same

Americans and Latinos and the already disproportionate burden of diseases under

1988-2005 time frame, the study was significant in

study among the same groups combine to produce a situation in which the

that it confirmed that HIV risk behaviors do indeed

vast majority of prisoners and releasees with these infectious diseases are African

occur in at least one of the nation’s largest state prison

American or Latino. In New York State correctional facilities, 48% of prisoners

systems, providing empirical evidence that some

diagnosed with AIDS in 1997 were Black and 45% were Hispanic, compared with

prisoners engage in high-risk behaviors and become

the proportions of these groups in the total population of the state of 18% and

HIV positive while incarcerated. Nonetheless, the

14% respectively.

study showed that the majority of new HIV infections
among incarcerated individuals (90%) occurred

The Connection Between Incarceration, Poverty and Homelessness

outside of prison (MMWR, vol. 55 no. 15, 2006).

If HIV-related morbidity and mortality are especially problematic among vulnerable

Several caveats about the study should be noted.

populations, it is reasonable to assume that a history of incarceration – and all of the

Only one prison system and a small study sample

personal and social chaos that it entails – contributes to increased vulnerability to HIV

that did not include HIV-positive prisoners who did

infection, disease progression and mortality.

not volunteer to be tested were involved. Moreover,
as MMWR authors note, “prisoners might have

Prisons are a major factor in the continuing rates of poverty and social disadvantage in the

inaccurately reported HIV risk behaviors because sex

African-American community. Convicted felons in most states in the United States cannot

between prisoners, sex with correctional staff, injection

vote and are often ineligible for federal housing or housing subsidies, federally financed

drug use, and tattooing are illegal or forbidden by

student loans and many forms of employment (Iguchi, Bell, Ramchand and Fain, 2005).

policy in this prison system” (MMWR, vol. 55 no.

Formerly incarcerated persons are typically from poor, disadvantaged communities, and when

15, 2006, p. 425). But even interpreting these data

they are discharged from prison they return to their old neighborhoods. As second-class

conservatively, it is unlikely that Georgia is the only

citizens in need of a great many social, economic and health services, their presence inevitably

state prison system in which risky sex, injection drug

adds to already high levels of social and economic disadvantage in the communities that

use and seroconversions occur.

house them (Golembeski and Fullilove, 2005). Formerly incarcerated persons are at higher
risk for becoming homeless, and this risk is especially acute for those who have a mental

Nonetheless, HIV risk reduction interventions such

health disability and/or a history of mental illness (Kushel, Hahn, Evans, et al., 2005).

as access to condoms, needle exchange and bleach for
IV drug users are not available to the vast majority

HIV Transmission in Prisons

of prisoners. Policies on HIV testing and education
vary widely between states and facilities. Condoms

The U.S. Department of Justice found that in 2003 the AIDS rate among U.S. prisoners

are banned or unavailable in 95% of the country’s

was three times that of the general population.That year, 2% of state prisoners and 1.1% of

prisons; only the state prison systems of Mississippi and

Federal prisoners were known to be infected with HIV (U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of

Vermont make them available, as do the county jails

Statistics, 2005). Given these facts, there has been and continues to be speculation that prisons

systems of Philadelphia, New York City, Washington,

are independent risk factors for HIV infection because prisoners engage in unsafe sex and

DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles. There are no needle

drug injection practices while “on the inside.”

exchange programs in U.S. prisons or jails, and only jails
in Houston and San Francisco are reported to provide

In 2005, the Georgia Department of Corrections and the Georgia Division of

bleach to prisoners to clean their needles (AIDS Policy

Public Health, with assistance from the CDC, conducted a study to examine HIV

and Law, 1997). In addition, prominent media coverage

risk behaviors and patterns of HIV transmission within Georgia’s correctional

over the past few years suggests that provision of medical

system. This study was possible because in 1988 the Georgia Department of

care is, at best, inconsistent in America’s prisons and jails.

Corrections instituted mandatory HIV testing of prisoners upon entry to a prison

In Alabama, prisoners with HIV are quarantined.

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Despite evidence showing that the proper and consistent

lifetime number of sexual partners at any given age, which affects the risk

use of condoms greatly reduces HIV risk, the issue

of sexual contact with an infected person….The dynamics of prison entry

continues to be highly politicized – particularly in the

and exit, coupled with a large increase in incarceration rates for men, are

correctional context. In September 2006, California

likely to impact the rate at which existing sexual relationships dissolve and

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation that

form (Johnson and Raphael, 2005, p. 11).

would have allowed nonprofits and public health
agencies to distribute condoms to prisoners. With some

In addition to affecting the rate at which concurrent sexual relationships form and

160,000 prisoners, California has the nation’s largest

break up, there is evidence that the loss of a significant number of men to prisons also

incarcerated population.

affects the degree to which women will insist on condom use and other safe sexual
behaviors on the part of their sexual partners (Sampson, 1995). Finally, the impact

Incarceration, HIV Infection and the
African-American Community

of missing fathers on families in general and on the delinquent behavior of their
children is also considerable. Some data suggest one predictor for being imprisoned is
having a family member who has been incarcerated.

There are other reasons to believe that prisons make
a significant contribution to the level of HIV/AIDS

For example, for children whose parents are imprisoned, feelings of shame,

in poor, African-American communities. Two

humiliation, and a loss of social status may result (Clear, 1996). Children begin to act

investigators at the Goldman School of Public Policy

out in school or distrust authority figures, who represent the people who removed

at the University of California, Berkeley, modeled

the parent from the home. Lowered economic circumstances in families experiencing

the impact of incarceration on HIV/AIDS rates in

imprisonment also lead to greater housing relocation, resulting in less cohesive

the United States (Johnson and Raphael, 2005). They

neighborhoods. In far too many cases, these children come to represent the next

note: “Our results reveal that the higher incarceration

generation of offenders (Mauer, 1999).

rates among black males over this period explain
a substantial share of the racial disparity in AIDS

Incarceration’s Impact on the Community’s Health

infection between black women and women of other
racial and ethnic groups” (Johnson and Raphael, 2005).

The health consequences of incarceration have significant impacts on prisoners and on the
communities to which they will return.The intersection of drugs, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C

Such transmission would be affected, the authors assert,

and TB is particularly alarming in this regard. As MacNeil and colleagues (2005) reported in a

from tattooing, drug use and high-risk sexual activity.

study of the national TB surveillance system from 1993 through 2003,TB case rates in federal

In the Georgia prison study (MMWR, vol. 55 no. 15,

and state prisons were significantly higher than in the general population (29.4 and 24.2 cases

2006), all of these behaviors were reported by cases as

per 100,000, compared with 6.7 per 100,000 for the general population). HIV infection is

well as controls, with the self-reported rates of having

a major risk factor in having an active TB infection (MacNeil, Lobato and Moore, 2005).

“received a tattoo in prison” emerging as a particularly

The significance of this study cannot be overemphasized. Unlike HIV, TB can be controlled,

significant risk factor for seroconversion in prison. The

particularly in a setting in which patients are extremely constrained in their freedom of

Johnson/Raphael model, however, is only partially

movement. If treatment failures are significantly elevated for this population, which is

dependent on the assumption that the disparity

disproportionately African American and Hispanic, it is reasonable to suppose that treatment

between African-American and white HIV infection

failures for prisoners with a variety of health conditions are likely as well.

rates is a function of in-prison HIV risk behavior. The
authors’ major focus was to test the degree to which
“sexual relationship markets” – that is, the manner in
which members of sexually active groups form and
break up sexual relationships – are influenced by rates
of incarceration:
Of particular importance are the effects of
incarceration on the total lifetime number of
sex partners and the likelihood of concurrent
sexual relationships. The rates at which new
relationships form and dissolve impacts the

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

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CONFRONTING THE EPIDEMIC IN BLACK AMERICA

were already infected before they entered the
correctional facility (MMWR, vol. 55 no. 15,

Policy Recommendations

2006). Policy reforms that establish voluntary,
routine HIV testing upon entry and release

With an epidemic that continues to grow in size and scope, it is important to look beyond

will help connect those who are infected to

medical interventions as the sole solution to our nation’s problem with HIV/AIDS.The

treatment and also reduce risk behaviors that

United States may have already reached the outer limits of what can be done to prevent and

could put others at risk.

treat HIV by investing in interventions that are targeted to individuals.
• Making HIV prevention education, substance abuse
Given the social and economic characteristics of poor African-American communities,

programs and condoms available in prison facilities.

a more systemic approach is needed to help build stable communities. Without

Every year since 1991, the rate of AIDS cases in

addressing the underlying factors that create and maintain poor African-American

prisons has been higher than that of the general

communities, the conditions that fuel a growing AIDS epidemic will always outpace

population. At the end of 2003, the most recent year

the funding available to combat it.

for which statistics are available, the rate of confirmed
AIDS cases among the U.S. prison population was

Thus, managing homelessness, housing conditions, risk of incarceration and the

more than three times that of the general population

concentration of poverty in poor communities of color must also be addressed (Golembeski

(51 per 10,000 compared to 15 per 10,000) (U.S.

and Fullilove, 2005; Lemelle, 2003).These are more than just “complicating factors”

Department of Justice, 2005). Nonprofit organizations,

for people being treated for HIV/AIDS.They are the forces that produce marginalized

government and public health agencies must be

communities and marginalized people. Creating public policies that can change the risk

allowed to discuss the relationship between substance

environment of poor African-American communities will not only impact HIV, it will also

abuse and HIV risk and to distribute condoms in

affect the conditions that generally contribute to health disparities there.

prison facilities. Ensuring access to condoms in prisons
would not only protect prisoners, but also the health

The following policy recommendations will enable us to alleviate the root causes of the

and lives of the people in the communities to which

African American HIV/AIDS epidemic, and improve the chances of survival for those

they will return.

living with HIV/AIDS:
• Expanding re-entry programs to help formerly
1. Support the strengthening of stable African-American communities by
addressing the need for more affordable housing.

incarcerated persons successfully transition back
into society.
Prisons increasingly hold members of poor

• Stabilizing housing is one of the most effective methods for reducing HIV-related

communities who are both under-educated and

morbidity and mortality. As noted earlier in this report, scarcity of affordable housing is

unemployable (Mauer, 1999; Golembeski and

often at the root of residential segregation, school failure for children and a lack of access

Fullilove, 2005). Expanded access to job training

to health care because families spend too much of their income on rent and other

and educational programs, including college-level

housing needs.

coursework, are necessary to improve their ability
to function in society upon release. In addition, re-

• Expanding federal programs such as Housing Opportunities for Persons With

entry programs are needed that address prisoners’

AIDS (HOPWA) is critical in helping those with AIDS avoid homelessness, which

HIV prevention, substance abuse, mental health and

in turn creates access to medical care and support services. In 2006, the program

housing needs prior to their release.

provided rent, mortgage and utility payments, as well as other housing and support
services, to 71,500 households (National AIDS Housing Coalition, 2006).

3. Eliminate the marginalization of, and reduce stigma
and discrimination against, black gay and other men

2. Reduce the impact of incarceration as a driver of new HIV infections within

who have sex with men.

the African-American community by:
• There is only one randomly controlled HIV
• Providing voluntary, routine HIV testing of prisoners upon entry and release.

prevention program, “Many Men, Many Voices”,

While a recent CDC study established that HIV infection does occur in

specifically designed for black MSM. Investing in

at least one major state prison system (i.e., Georgia), 90% of prisoners

research to produce interventions that will work

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PLEASE NOTE: THE REPORT AND PRESS RELEASE ARE EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 AT 10:00 AM (ET) / 7:00 AM (PT).

for a diverse population of black MSM is essential

• One of the main factors contributing to disparate treatment outcomes for African

to a national prevention effort that will reverse

Americans is that many are diagnosed at late stages of disease, when it is often too late

the course of the epidemic in this population. The

for medications to be effective.

CDC and the National Institutes of Health must
aggressively establish a robust research portfolio to
achieve this goal.
• The empowerment of community leaders and
organizations has been a critical element in our
nation’s effort to combat the HIV epidemic. More
support must be leveraged to develop, promote
and sustain leadership among black MSM and in
organizations serving them. Additionally, sustained
investment must be made to build the capacity
of organizations developed to serve black MSM
in order to effectively change social networks,
behavior and conditions contributing to HIV
infections in this population.
• Efforts should be supported to address homophobia
evidenced through stigma, discrimination and
violence that creates vulnerability to behaviors and
conditions associated with risk for HIV infection
among black MSM.
4. Expand HIV prevention education programs,
promote the early identification of HIV through

• Community health workers (e.g., lay health advisors, peer counselors, health aides)
are often critical bridges between physicians and patients in communities where
mistrust of the health care system exists (IOM, 2002). They should be utilized as
important resources for facilitating improved HIV/AIDS care. Many physicians
lack the training and/or the life experience to understand the barriers that many
HIV patients must overcome in order to maintain their health. Community health
workers can serve as “interpreters” who can effectively communicate with patients
about the care that is being provided. Such interventions have repeatedly been
found to be effective in clinical settings in which a multicultural, multiethnic patient
population is being served (IOM, 2002).
5. Reduce the number of HIV infections in the African-American community caused
by injection drug use through the expansion of substance abuse prevention
programs, drug treatment and recovery services, and clean needle exchange
programs. For active injection drug users, in particular, clean needle exchange
programs are needed to minimize the risk of infection through needle sharing.
• About one in five (19%) new HIV infections among African Americans is from
injection drug use (CDC, 2005). Education programs are needed to prevent people
from using drugs in the first place, and substance abuse treatment programs are
needed to help those currently using drugs to quit. For injection drug users who
currently are addicted, clean needle exchange programs are needed to minimize
the risk of infection from sharing unclean needles.

voluntary, routine testing and connect those in
need to treatment and care as early as possible.
• Knowledge is a critical first step for stopping the
spread of HIV, yet far too many African Americans
do not have accurate information about how HIV
is transmitted or can be prevented. Culturally
relevant HIV prevention education programs
are needed to help African Americans protect
themselves and their partners.
• Approximately one-quarter of the estimated
1.1 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS
do not know that they are infected and may
unknowingly transmit the virus to others. While
proper safeguards must be in place to ensure that
HIV testing is always voluntary, efforts to expand
HIV testing will help greater numbers of people
learn their HIV status, allow those who test positive
to seek early treatment and reduce their risk of
transmitting HIV.

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LOOKING FORWARD
This report was developed to examine the potential causes of excess HIV-related
mortality in African Americans. In showing that HIV is one of a host of other health
disparities that plague African Americans and by identifying social marginalization as
a key cause of excess HIV-related mortality among African Americans, this report has
made clear that policy and legislative reforms need to focus on structural interventions
that will address the root causes of the overrepresentation of African Americans in the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. Such reforms will not only improve efforts to prevent HIV, they
will improve the chances of survival for those African Americans already living with
HIV/AIDS.
The financing of HIV care in particular, and health care in African-American
communities in general, was beyond the scope of this report. The problems of a
continually growing HIV epidemic at a time when resources to combat it have been
reduced were partially addressed, but need to be considered more fully moving forward.
In addition, the impact of stigma on HIV/AIDS among African Americans is an
important area worthy of greater attention than was addressed herein. The development
of interventions capable of creating tolerance, acceptance and compassion represents a
significant and vital challenge for behavioral intervention specialists.
Finally, we feel that the recommendations in this report, if implemented, will further
empower individuals to take personal responsibility for the prevention and spread of
HIV/AIDS in the African-American community, even in difficult life situations.

24

African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV/AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America

PLEASE NOTE: THE REPORT AND PRESS RELEASE ARE EMBARGOED UNTIL THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2006 AT 10:00 AM (ET) / 7:00 AM (PT).

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