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In Black America Podcast: Fighting HIV/AIDS In The African American Community

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Dr. Donna Hubbard McCree, Associate Director for Health Equity, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

McCree has over twenty-nine years of experience in Public Health and Pharmacy and has held numerous positions in the fields of Public Health and Pharmacy including academia, bioavailability research, professional association management, and retail and hospital pharmacy practice.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention African Americans accounted for an estimated 44% of all new HIV infections among adults and adolescents - aged 13 years or older in 2010, despite representing only 12% of the US population; considering the smaller size of the African American population in the United States, this represents a population rate that is 8 times that of whites overall.

In 2010, men accounted for 70% of the estimated 20,900 new HIV infections among all adult and adolescent African Americans. The estimated rate of new HIV infections for African American men was 7 times that of white men, twice that of Latino men, and nearly 3 times that of African American women.

In 2010, African American gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men represented an estimated 72%  of new infections among all African American men and 36% of an estimated 29,800 new HIV infections among all gay and bisexual men. More new HIV infections occurred among young African American gay and bisexual men - aged 13-24 than any other subgroup of gay and bisexual men.

In 2010, African American women accounted for 6,100  of the estimated new HIV infections among all adult and adolescent African Americans. This number represents a decrease of 21% since 2008. Most new HIV infections among African American women are attributed to heterosexual contact. The estimated rate of new HIV infections for African American women was 20 times that of white women and almost 5 times that of Hispanic/Latino women.

John L. Hanson is the producer and host of the nationally syndicated radio series In Black America. It’s heard on home station KUT Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m., as well as weekly on close to 20 stations across the country. The weekly podcast of IBA, the only nationally broadcast black-oriented public affairs radio program, is one of KUT’s most popular podcasts.