I remember being young and seeing the face of a young girl who was an activist for HIV/AIDS on television. Her name was Hydeia Broadbent. I didn’t truly know what this was at the time, but I knew it was some type of condition. When I saw her face, she looked like me, a young Black girl, who appeared to be healthy. I didn’t see anything wrong with her, but anytime I saw her making appearances, I remembered her face. As we know, she recently passed away, but she lived to age 39. This was far beyond what doctors expected for a child born with the virus. Now this was in the 90’s and here we are in the year 2024. We all know of HIV/AIDS. There are now great treatments for the virus, that can help the person diagnosed live into old age
Working in healthcare, as an Occupational Therapist, I must read patient’s chart to get their history before I treat. In more recent times, most of the patients I see with the virus have been under the age 55. I remember a time in school when education on the virus was so great. It was engrained in our heads to engage in safe sex to protect oneself from the virus. In looking at life now, I feel as if I don’t see or hear these messages as much as before. There are possible good and bad reasons for this. Either the numbers are much lower that enough people are aware; or we feel as if with better treatments, we no longer have to educate the public.
So, yes, the number of new cases worldwide and in the U.S. have decreased, but the total number of people living with it have significantly increased in the last 15 years but there were some statistics of importance.
- People aged 13-34 account for more than half (56%) of the new cases in the U.S. as of 2021.
- Black/African Americans account for 40% of the new cases and Hispanic/Latino accounted for 29% as of 2021.
- 22% of the new cases happened from heterosexual relations as of 2021.
- Black women accounted for 54% of the new cases as of 2021.
- 53% of people in the world living with the virus are women and girls as of 2022.
- 77% of the new global infection rates have been women and girls aged 15-24 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The level of advocacy we saw in the 90’s from Hydeia and so many others is still needed today. It is not a state of emergency as before, but the numbers are still high. With newer generations being born the messages must continue. In this month of love, we shall show care for everyone’s health. Looking at the numbers for new cases in Africa, this is alarming. This continent is not a priority among world leaders but it is the place of origin for human life. We must not overlook it. Let’s all keep the message alive and educate all of those we care about.