Rep. Barbara Lee: AIDS Pandemic Must Also Be Fought At Home
December 1, 2008 by blackgirlgrown
Filed under engage, health and wellness, hiv and aids, politics
The recent passage of bipartisan legislation reauthorizing and expanding our nation’s global AIDS programs was a landmark achievement that will save millions of people from certain death and prevent millions of new HIV infections in the developing world. Sadly, our commitment to fighting AIDS globally has not extended to the fight against AIDS here at home.
In August, I joined the Black AIDS Institute at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, where they released their new report aptly titled, “Left Behind!” The report provides startling evidence that we have not sufficiently addressed the growing African-American epidemic within our own borders.
“Left Behind!” compares African- American HIV rates in Detroit, New Orleans and Washington, D.C., with countries such as South Africa, Haiti and Tanzania. It concludes that Black America is confronting the epidemic with precious little support from the government.
The report notes that HIV prevalence in Washington, where more than 80 percent of HIV cases are among blacks, is estimated at 5 percent – nearly the rate found in Uganda and higher than that of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The report finds that if Black America was a separate nation it would rank 88th in infant mortality (with twice the rate of infant deaths as Cuba) and 105th in life expectancy (behind Algeria, the Dominican Republic and Sri Lanka.) Black America would also rank 16th worldwide in the number of people with HIV. Read More.
