New York City’s HIV/AIDS Services ‘Fragmented’ for Minority Women, Women’s HIV Collaborative of New York Says
New York City's HIV/AIDS services for black and Latina women are "fragmented," and new strategies and funding are required to prevent and treat HIV infections among minority women who are disproportionately affected by the epidemic, according to a Women's HIV Collaborative of New York release. New York City Council Members Letitia James (D), Christine Quinn (D) and Yvette Clark (D) on Thursday held a press conference at City Hall to address the issue of minority women and HIV/AIDS, following the recent release of a study showing an increase in the number of HIV cases among minorities in the city (WHCONY e-mail, 2/20). A study presented earlier this month at the 11th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections showed that blacks in the city face a fivefold greater risk of HIV infection, compared with whites, and Hispanics face a 2.5-times greater risk than whites of contracting HIV. The statistics were based on data available as of Dec. 31, 2001 (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/11). The study also showed that the number of HIV cases attributable to heterosexual sex is increasing, particularly among African Americans and Latinos, according to the New York Post (Edelman, New York Post, 2/22). The collaborative is "sad and alarmed" by the increase in the number of new HIV infections among young women and minority women, although the group is "not surprised" because New York City has been the "epicenter" of the HIV/AIDS epidemic "since the beginning," according to the WHCONY release. To avoid an HIV/AIDS "disaster" among minority groups, the city should develop new strategies and access points for providing HIV/AIDS services to minority communities and fully fund the $5 million Communities of Color Initiative proposed in the city budget, according to the release (WHCONY release, 2/19).
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