CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE JOINS CBC IN DECLARING STATE OF EMERGENCY IN MINORITY COMMUNITIES FOR HIV/AIDS
Washington, DC - Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Task Force on Global
HIV/AIDS joined the CBC to call on the Bush Administration to declare a State of Emergency in minority communities as it
relates to HIV/AIDS.
According to a June report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, more than 50% of the
estimated 40,000 new HIV infections each year occur among African Americans. An estimated 1 in 50 African American men
and 1 in 160 African American women are infected with HIV. Black males ages 13-24 comprised 37% of AIDS cases for their
age group, and Black females accounted for 59% of AIDS cases among females in the same age group. African American
children (under the age of 13) represent almost two-thirds (64%) of all reported pediatric HIV cases in the United States.
"The urgency to call for a State of Emergency on HIV/AIDS in Minority communities is clear," said Lee. "Racial and ethnic
minorities continue to be disproportionately impacted by the HIV/AIDS
epidemic in the United States, and we need to direct our
resources towards those communities hit hardest."
Although African-Americans represent only 12% of the population of the United States, they account for 47% of new AIDS
cases. Hispanics represent only 13% of the population, but they account for 19% of new AIDS cases. Asian Americans, Pacific
Islanders and Native Americans account for only 1% of new AIDS cases. However, due to the lack of detailed HIV surveillance,
under-reporting, and mis-classification by race, the true impact of this epidemic remains hidden in these communities.
Through a community wide initiative, a state of emergency task force was formed and on November 4, 1998, and the Alameda
County Public Health Officer declared a Public Health Emergency on AIDS in Alameda County's African American Community.
In the three years since Alameda County declared a public health emergency, HIV/AIDS prevention resources and efforts have
been widely expanded and infection rates in the African American community are slowly decreasing.
"HIV can be prevented and AIDS is a manageable disease. "We must do all we can to eradicate both from the face of the earth,"
said Lee. "Declaring a State of Emergency is beginning to work in Alameda County and it can work throughout the country."
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