HIV-AIDS Leading Cause Of Death Among Latina Women.

The Philadelphia AIDS Consortium (TPAC) announces the release of their recent study “The AIDS Crisis in Pennsylvania: The Hidden Epidemic Among African American and Latina Women.” The study calls attention to the changing face of the AIDS epidemic and highlights issues related to prevention efforts. African American and Latina women are the fastest growing and most at-risk groups within the HIV/AIDS population, findings show. These two groups represent a disproportionately high percentage of AIDS cases among women in both the United States and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In 2001, over 80% of female AIDS cases in the U.S. occurred in women between the ages of 25 to 49. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death in 1999 for African American women ages 25-34 in both the U.S. and Pennsylvania. For ages 35-44 it was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and second in Pennsylvania.

While African American statistics by state and by nation are comparable, the death rate of Latinas from HIV ranks significantly higher in Pennsylvania than the national average. Among Latinas ages 25-34 in Pennsylvania, HIV ranked as the leading cause of death, while it ranked as the fourth leading cause of death for Latinas nationally. For Latinas ages 35-44, HIV ranked 3rd nationally but 2nd in Pennsylvania.

Jeannette Perez, an HIV positive Latina woman from Philadelphia understands the study’s findings on a personal level. She says, “I am sick of the secretive way my community deals with HIV. We can’t fool ourselves! This study is proof that it is time to reach out to each other so we can prevent further spread of the epidemic.”

In Pennsylvania, adult and adolescent Latinas age 13 and older have a significantly higher case rate (25 per 100,000) than the national rate of 14 per 100,000. African American adult and adolescent females have a dramatically high case rate of 46 per 100,000 in both PA and the U.S. By comparison, the case rate for White adolescent and adult females is only 2 per 100,000 in both PA and the U.S.

In response to this crisis, Board President Luciano Orsini says, “TPAC is planning a focused prevention campaign and hopes to create a greater public awareness of this crisis. Reaching these populations through effective prevention efforts must involve a clear understanding of the social, cultural and economic forces impacting the HIV/AIDS risk factors of African Americans and Latinas.”

The study is available for viewing at http://www.tpaconline.org