"Women,
girls, HIV and AIDS" is the theme of this year's World AIDS Day, today.
Unfortunately, here in the United States, it might be more accurate to
say "Black women, girls, HIV and AIDS."
African-American
women are 23 times as likely as white women to be diagnosed with AIDS.
Tragically, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for women in our
community ages 24 to 35. More than 70 percent of all new female
diagnoses of HIV/AIDS in the United States occur among African-American women.
These
facts are all the more shocking because we have known for 20 years that
HIV/AIDS is a completely preventable disease. While abstinence is the
only sure way to stop the sexual transmission of HIV, we know that the
correct and consistent use of condoms dramatically reduces the risk of
infection. We have the tools to fight HIV/AIDS. What we still lack is
knowledge within our community to protect African-American women against this disease.
To raise awareness about HIV and other health disparities affecting
African-Americans, the NAACP
this year issued a "Call to Action on Health," a comprehensive plan to
mobilize all members of our community in the struggle for better health
care. The NAACP also recently distributed "Women Like You!" --- a DVD
and discussion guide designed to inform women about HIV/AIDS.
African-American
women have struggled to overcome social, political and economic
injustice, and they have been central to our swift and community-wide
effort to confront prejudice and discrimination.
On
this day nearly 50 years ago, Rosa Parks took a stand against
segregation in Montgomery. That is the type of response that women need
to wage against AIDS. Our top priority must be to raise awareness of
and access to three life-saving resources in the fight against
HIV/AIDS: prevention, testing and treatment.
First and foremost, African-American
women must have better access to information on effective methods of
HIV prevention. We know that safer sex dramatically reduces the risk of
infection. Women must know the importance of condom use --- and more
importantly, that they have the power and responsibility to insist on
protection each and every time with a partner.
Secondly,
the women of this community must know about advances that make HIV
testing simpler than ever. Some newer tests do not even require a blood
sample and can return results in 20 minutes.
Testing
is available in more venues than ever, including health clinics,
community centers and even street fairs. We need to ensure that women
are more aware of these advances, and have access to them.
Finally,
we have seen significant improvements in treatment for HIV/AIDS. New
medications are making HIV therapy easier for many patients to take and
tolerate, and can substantially reduce AIDS-related illness. But with
increasing numbers of African-American women being diagnosed with AIDS,
a lot more needs to be done to ensure that these benefits reach us.
We must also strive to ensure that African-Americans
enroll in clinical trials of existing HIV drugs as well as new
treatments. Participation in clinical trials is the only way to
determine which treatment regimens are most effective among
African-Americans living with HIV. Clinical trials may also help to
develop treatments of benefit to our community.
In
the past several decades, we have made great progress in the fight for
equality and social justice. But the disproportionate impact of AIDS on
black women threatens to reverse these gains and jeopardizes future generations.
On
this World AIDS Day, we must recognize that the fight against AIDS goes
hand in hand with the fight for equality. Many women in this country
have benefited from recent advances in HIV prevention, testing and
treatment. It is high time that African-American women do, too.
Julian Bond (left) is chairman and Roslyn McCallister Brock vice chairwoman of the NAACP.
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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