HIV/AIDS Awareness

Ways Of Prevention

Key Trends and Current Cases:

AIDS cases have been reported in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 4 Americans with HIV do not know they are infected.
More than 550,000 Americans with AIDS have already died and over 1 million Americans are currently living with HIV/AIDS.
There is no cure for HIV/AIDS. The number of new infections occurring annually in the U.S. has not decreased in the last decade, remaining constant at approximately 40,000 new HIV infections each year. However, recent analyses suggest a potential rise in occurrence among some populations.
Advances in treatment have dramatically decreased the number of people who have died of AIDS since the peak in the mid-1990's. However, the number of deaths among people with AIDS has remained relatively steady in recent years.

How Can It Be Prevented?

One of the reasons that HIV is so dangerous is that a person can have the virus for a long time without knowing it. That person can then spread the virus to others through high-risk behaviors. HIV transmission can be prevented by:
abstaining from sex (not having oral, vaginal, or anal sex)
always using latex condoms for all types of sexual intercourse
avoiding contact with the bodily fluids through which HIV is transmitted
never sharing needles

HIV's Impact

Most young people are infected through sex.
Most young people, especially young women and people of color, have been particularly affected by the epidemic. Young Black Americans represented 73% of AIDS cases reported among 13-19 years olds in 2004; Latino teens represented 14%.
Young people under the age of 25 account for about half of all new HIV infections
Teens and young adults, between the ages of 15-24 account for 40% of new HIV infections among adults.
Men who have sex with men accounted for 43% of all new AIDS diagnoses in 2005 in the U.S. and 58% of new AIDS diagnoses among men that same year

Informational HIV/AIDS Websites