National Minority Quality Forum launches U.S. HIV/AIDS Atlas.

The National Minority Quality Forum launched a groundbreaking HIV/AIDS Atlas that highlights the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in communities across the United States. The Atlas makes information on HIV/AIDS prevalence rates available in a single location for the first time, painting a comprehensive picture of the varying intensity of the epidemic across the country.

The HIV/AIDS Atlas is being released in advance of National HIV Testing Day (June 27), to highlight the growing need for increased HIV screening efforts in communities that are suffering disproportionately from the disease. Currently, 20 percent of HIV-positive Americans — approximately 220,000 individuals — are unaware of their infection. People with undiagnosed HIV infection are not receiving life-saving therapies, and it is estimated that they may unknowingly transmit up to 70 percent of new infections in the United States.

“We began this project with a desire to fill a fundamental gap in public access to HIV/AIDS information,” said Gary Puckrein, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Minority Quality Forum. “Mapping the disease made visible health disparity zones around the country. It is an important step in increasing awareness and stemming the tide of the epidemic. Now that we can see more clearly where the problem is, we can improve data collection and analysis, prevention initiatives, early diagnosis and routine testing efforts in the hardest hit communities.”

Highlights from the Atlas include the following:

— The HIV/AIDS epidemic is concentrated in approximately 20 percent of American counties (556 counties of the 3,027 counties for which data were provided to the National Minority Quality Forum).

— The HIV/AIDS epidemic is widespread among two-thirds of the predominantly minority counties (comprising African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Pacific Islanders) for which data were provided to National Minority Quality Forum.

— Atlas users can view the epidemic in New York City at the zip code level. This vantage suggests that the disease clusters in small geographic areas in the United States.

For morer information at http://www.MapHIV.org>