by Jennifer Porter Gore
When the HIV/AIDS virus emerged as a deadly public health threat 40 years ago there were many assumptions about it: gay sex was the primary means of infection; straight men and women were at far lower risk of acquiring the virus; and AIDS was, mostly, a crisis for white people.
How times have changed.
While scientific and medical breakthroughs now enable people infected with the virus to live normal, fulfilling lives, we’ve also learned that heterosexuals are at significant risk of acquiring or transmitting the virus, too. Perhaps most importantly, we now know how HIV/AIDS and race are inextricably linked.
“Today, there are more than 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S., 40% of whom (489,200) are Black,” according to a 2024 fact sheet by KFF, a nonprofit health policy organization. “Although they represent only 12% of the U.S. population, Black people account for a much larger share of HIV diagnoses (39%), people living with HIV (40%), and deaths among people with HIV (43%) than any other racial/ethnic group in the U.S.”
Each December, during AIDS Awareness Month, global nongovernmental organizations, international agencies and public health nonprofits celebrate the progress made in fighting HIV/AIDS — and to highlight the fact that millions are still suffering, including a large number of Black Americans.
With that in mind, here are 7 facts about HIV/AIDS in the Black community
1. Disparities Persist
Research shows HIV/AIDS continues to have a disproportionate impact on people of color in the U.S. in general — and among Black Americans in particular. In 2022, according to KFF, the rate of new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 among Black adults and adolescents was about 8 times that of white people and twice that of Latinos. The infection rate for Black men was the highest of any race/ethnicity and gender, some 23 percentage points higher than the second highest group, Latino men.
2. Higher Death Rates
HIV/AIDS death rates are highest among Black people compared to people of other race/ethnicities. In 2022, according to KFF, Black people accounted for more than 4 in 10 deaths among people with an HIV diagnosis, and had the highest age-adjusted HIV death rate per 100,000 compared to white persons. While the number of deaths among Black individuals with an HIV diagnosis fell 13% between 2010 and 2018, it pushed up by 15% between 2018 and 2022.
3. Black Women, Young People at Significant Risk
At nearly 2 in 10 infections, Black women had the highest HIV infection rate among all U.S. women. KFF reports that while new HIV diagnoses continue to occur disproportionately among Black women, “data show a 39% decrease in new diagnoses for Black women between 2010 and 2022.” More recently, from 2018 to 2022, new HIV diagnoses among Black women were essentially flat, decreasing by just 1%.
Meanwhile, among young people ages 13 to 24, Black people represented half of all HIV diagnoses, according to KFF. In 2022 more than half of gay and bisexual teens and young adults with HIV were Black in 2022, yet just 1 in 10 Black school-age youths report ever having been tested for HIV/AIDS.
4. Southern Hot Spots
Among all persons newly diagnosed with HIV, slightly more than half live in the South, compared with 21% in the West; and 13% in both the Northeast and the Midwest, according to HIV.gov, a federal information clearinghouse. At the same time, the South accounts for both the majority of Black people newly diagnosed with HIV and the majority of Black people living with HIV at the end of 2022, according to KFF.
Moreover, while HIV diagnoses among Black people are concentrated in a handful of states, 7 of 10 of those states are in the south, KFF reports: Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana, Virginia and Maryland.
5. Top 10 Cities by HIV Prevalence Rates
- Miami, FL
- Washington, D.C.
- Baltimore, MD
- Philadelphia, PA
- Detroit, MI
- Memphis, TN and St. Louis, MO (tied)
- Jackson, MS
- New Orleans, LA
- Detroit, MI
- Baton Rouge, LA\
6. Barriers to Treatment
KFF reports that Black people dealing with HIV/AIDS infections face several challenges that contribute to the epidemic, including “stigma and discrimination, higher rates of poverty, lack of access to health care, higher rates of some sexually transmitted infections, and lower awareness of HIV status.”
But lingering medical mistrust and lack of education about treatments also play roles: A national survey of Black Americans conducted in 2002–2003 found that 48% of Black people strongly or slightly believed that “HIV is a manmade virus,” while 53% believe that HIV/AIDS can be cured but the remedy “is being withheld from the poor.”
7. Signs of Hope
While the big picture is grim, KFF notes a few recent positive data points, including declining new HIV diagnoses among Black people overall, especially among women. Researchers also notice a “leveling off” of new diagnoses among Black gay and bisexual men. Still, given the epidemic’s “continued and disproportionate impact on Black people,” the report notes, stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS in Black communities “is key to addressing HIV in the United States.”