3 ms·

Black males die at such a higher rate from AIDS. Are they having that much more unprotected sex, taking that many more drugs from dirty needles, or getting that

Black males die at such a higher rate from AIDS. Are they having that much more unprotected sex, taking that many more drugs from dirty needles, or getting that much inferior treatment than the general population?

raverbashing 12y ago
Yes
dailyrorschach 12y ago
To elaborate - my experience here in anecdotal having worked in a HIV/AIDS - the larger issue among this cohort is usually compliance with treatment and medication management. Yes, the factors you cited are all what leads to a higher rate of infection, but mortality increases when people don’t adhere to treatment. There’s all kinds of reasons for that, many of which are related to lifestyle. Payment is an issue, but there are programs in the US available for the those that have no other option to afford treatment thanks to the Ryan White CARE Act. But even if the medicine is paid for, unfortunately in this cohort we see a lot of additional issues prevalent such as: drug use, homelessness, mental instability - all leading to patients not staying on their drug cocktail regimen.
scarmig 12y ago
A big heaping of options 1 and 3, with a bit of 2 tossed in. Homophobia has AIDS and AIDS-related mortality as comorbidities. There exist fewer support structures for gay black men than exist for gay white men, which e.g. reduces knowledge transfer, makes it less of a cultural norm to stay on your drug regimen, provides fewer role models for how to live as an HIV-positive man. It's also important to note another factor: our disproportionately black prison population and our epidemic of prison rape. Anal rape by multiple men, many of them with one or more other STDs, is an ideal way for an HIV infection to be transferred. HIV also gets transferred in prison through consensual sex: most prisons don't offer free condoms to inmates. The net result is the rate of contracting HIV is 10 to 100 times higher within prison than outside it.
- infosample 12y ago
  I wish we would treat prison rape like rape which is wrong, period, with no exceptions. I also wish we would treat the mental problems that lead to depression and suicide with the same seriousness as that which leads to drug addiction, prison, and AIDS. We've greatly reduced death by cigarette related diseases. That was mostly a behavioral problem, so is AIDS. The rest of the items on this site seem to be scientific problems. Not to get too political but we want to do our best to eliminate all these causes of death. Black males with AIDS seems like low hanging fruit disguised as a real problem with our society.
a-priori 12y ago
I wouldn't be surprised if it boiled down to three things: 1) HIV is more easily transmitted man-to-man or woman-to-man than it is man-to-woman or woman-to-woman. Thus, all else being equal, men are more likely than women to get HIV, and therefore AIDS. 2) For various historical and political reasons, race and class are closely correlated in the US. Black men are more likely to be poor than white men. 3) Poor people are much less likely to have access to condoms and be educated about safe sex, and are more likely to use street drugs and share needles. They're also less likely to have good access to health care, meaning than HIV won't be treated properly and is more likely to progress to AIDS and, eventually, death. Put those three factors together, and you end up with black men having a much higher incidence of AIDS than other groups.

raverbashing 12y ago

Yes

dailyrorschach 12y ago

To elaborate - my experience here in anecdotal having worked in a HIV/AIDS - the larger issue among this cohort is usually compliance with treatment and medication management. Yes, the factors you cited are all what leads to a higher rate of infection, but mortality increases when people don’t adhere to treatment. There’s all kinds of reasons for that, many of which are related to lifestyle. Payment is an issue, but there are programs in the US available for the those that have no other option to afford treatment thanks to the Ryan White CARE Act. But even if the medicine is paid for, unfortunately in this cohort we see a lot of additional issues prevalent such as: drug use, homelessness, mental instability - all leading to patients not staying on their drug cocktail regimen.

scarmig 12y ago

A big heaping of options 1 and 3, with a bit of 2 tossed in. Homophobia has AIDS and AIDS-related mortality as comorbidities. There exist fewer support structures for gay black men than exist for gay white men, which e.g. reduces knowledge transfer, makes it less of a cultural norm to stay on your drug regimen, provides fewer role models for how to live as an HIV-positive man. It's also important to note another factor: our disproportionately black prison population and our epidemic of prison rape. Anal rape by multiple men, many of them with one or more other STDs, is an ideal way for an HIV infection to be transferred. HIV also gets transferred in prison through consensual sex: most prisons don't offer free condoms to inmates. The net result is the rate of contracting HIV is 10 to 100 times higher within prison than outside it.

infosample 12y ago
I wish we would treat prison rape like rape which is wrong, period, with no exceptions. I also wish we would treat the mental problems that lead to depression and suicide with the same seriousness as that which leads to drug addiction, prison, and AIDS. We've greatly reduced death by cigarette related diseases. That was mostly a behavioral problem, so is AIDS. The rest of the items on this site seem to be scientific problems. Not to get too political but we want to do our best to eliminate all these causes of death. Black males with AIDS seems like low hanging fruit disguised as a real problem with our society.

a-priori 12y ago

I wouldn't be surprised if it boiled down to three things: 1) HIV is more easily transmitted man-to-man or woman-to-man than it is man-to-woman or woman-to-woman. Thus, all else being equal, men are more likely than women to get HIV, and therefore AIDS. 2) For various historical and political reasons, race and class are closely correlated in the US. Black men are more likely to be poor than white men. 3) Poor people are much less likely to have access to condoms and be educated about safe sex, and are more likely to use street drugs and share needles. They're also less likely to have good access to health care, meaning than HIV won't be treated properly and is more likely to progress to AIDS and, eventually, death. Put those three factors together, and you end up with black men having a much higher incidence of AIDS than other groups.