Wake up Sisters HIV/AIDS is destroying our African American Women

 With the alarming number of African American Women being infected by HIV/AIDS we as African American women need to wake up. HIV/AIDS is taking a toll on the African American women. It has been said that the leading death among African American women between the ages of 24-45 is HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, 1 in 30 African American women will be diagnosed with HIV during some part of their life. With the growing number of African American women infected, majority of them are not even aware that they are infected. This is why it is important to know your status. African American women are known to having the highest rate of STD cases, then other races. Also many   African American women has slept with a man that has been incarcerated at some time another throughout their lives, which increase their chances of being infected.  The African American men within a lot of our communities are known for going in and out of the prison system, leaving them at higher risk for given HIV to African American women. Then you have these African American men that do not consider themselves of being gay but “on the down low” meaning that they sleep with men and women. Being that these men does not consider themselves of being gay it is hard for the African American women to determine whether or not the African American man in which she is involved with  is one of these men. “The latest HIV data from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that in 2009 black women accounted for nearly 30 percent of the estimated new HIV infections among all blacks (Forbes 2012)”.   Being that African American represent only 14 percent of the U.S. population, however, African American overall accounted for 44 percent of all new HIV infection within that same year.  

Diallo says if the United States intends to end HIV among U.S. women–and among African American women in particular–policy makers must address social determinants that make women vulnerable to infection (Forbes 2012)”.    This is a serious problem plaguing our African American communities African American women lacks the type of healthcare access that other races. Because African American Women suffer from lack of housing, lack of control over financial resources and gender sensitive care it leaves them more vulnerable to contracting HIV. “ Important, interconnected social determinants of HIV infection and STD risk for black women include poverty and complex diminished gender power caused by dramatic social changes (Sharpe et al. 2012).

What can we do as African American women, we can bring awareness to this virus making our sisters aware that this virus is still a problem among African American women. HIV/AIDS can be prevented if you take the necessary precautions. We as African American women have to remove the stigma behind HIV; we have to come together as a community of women. We have to come together to share testimonies and stories with other African American women, making them aware that even if you are infected you are not alone, we are not here to judge but support and that our main goal is to reduce the HIV rates among African American women. Just since 2010, the number of HIV infected African American women has decreased by 21% in comparison to 2008. This shows we are moving in the right direction however there is still more to be done. We have to know our status we must promote a campaign for our African American women to take the test. As well as creating support system for those already infected. Furthermore, those that have died from HIV/AIDS, like I said before are mostly African American women.  African American women are at a higher risk of STDs.  African American women, as well are as high frequency of sexual activity among there African American race. Then you have the socioeconomic factors that play a great part in HIV infected cases among African American women, poverty plays a major part in the amount of cases among African American women. Then you have either no or very limited access to healthcare with all of this factors it leaves African American women more vulnerable than any other races, wake up my sisters and take a stand that we will not lose another sister to this virus.  

Reference

Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc

B, K., & C, J. (2011). Promoting African American Women and Sexual Assertiveness In Reducing HIV/AIDS: An Analytical Review of the Research Literature . Journal of Cultural Diversity , 142-149.

Jackson, C. K. (2014, December). AIDS Patients. Essence , pp. 134-135.

Sharpe, V. C., M, R., J, C., H, D., & K, F. (2012). Social Determinants of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Dieases Among Black Women: Implications for Health Equity . Journal of Women's Health , 249-254.

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