HIV: The Racial Divide
April is National Minority Health Month, a time to examine the health of communities of color both nationally and in Massachusetts. People of color continue to live shorter and sicker lives in Massachusetts and the United States. Even when insurance status is equal, Blacks, Latinos and Asians face poorer health outcomes for nearly every health indicator.
HIV is no exception. Blacks and Latinos comprise just 12% of the Commonwealth’s population, but make up more than 53% of people living with and being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the Commonwealth. 83% of women recently diagnosed with HIV/AIDS are women of color. Gay men - of all colors – continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV as well. Gay men have an HIV rate that is nearly 25 times higher than for straight men.
AIDS Action Committee is working to address these issues in two ways: through policy and programming. We are proud members of the Disparities Action Network and are supporting their legislative priorities. We are also actively working to address disparities through the ground-breaking work of Healing our Community Collaborative or HOCC, a peer driven, nurse led women’s group that is housed here at AIDS Action. HOCC is working with its members to learn from them what they experience and see as barriers to HIV treatment, care and testing, evaluate their health literacy, and learn about how they engage in their own health care. HOCC is simultaneously collaborating with physicians and HOCC members to share these learnings and develop practical and effective strategies around them to reduce health disparities.
Ending health disparities is important for the health of communities, lowering health care costs, and a more efficient health care system.
Ending health disparities is also vital to ending the spread of HIV. You can support our work to end health disparities in two ways: support our health disparities policy work by becoming a cyberaction member today or donate to AAC to support the innovative and groundbreaking work of HOCC.
