How does HIV/AIDS affect Washington DC? Tomorrow December 1st is Worlds AIDS day

CVS, HIV/AIDS is preventable unlock and remove your condoms from click boxes so that all DC residents have equal access to condoms to fight the epidemic that plagues men, women and children.

An excerpt from "Fight HIV in DC" website:

Spotlight: HIV/AIDS and Children in the District of Columbia Despite extensive efforts and improvements nationally in the prevention of HIV/AIDS in children, the District of Columbia continues to have disproportionately high numbers of HIV/AIDS cases among children less than 13 years of age.

Over the past five years, the District had 56 children under 13 years old diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS. In 2005, the District accounted for nine percent of all pediatric AIDS cases in the United States.


For more information about World Aids Day Events in the District Please Visit this Link:
http://www.fighthivindc.org/2007/12/dc-world-aids-day-2008-december-1st.html
How the District’s epidemic compares to the country and other major cities.
• The District had the highest AIDS case rate nationally (128.4 cases per 100,000 population in the District compared to 14.0 cases per 100,000 population in the United States).
• The District’s rate for newly reported AIDS cases is higher than rates in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Detroit, and Chicago.
Late testing, faster progression of the disease, and missed opportunities for prevention and treatment.
• Between 1997 and 2006, almost 70% of all AIDS cases progressed from HIV to AIDS in less than 12 months after the initial HIV diagnosis, primarily due to late testing. Nationally, only 39% of AIDS cases are late testers. This means that the individual was first diagnosed with HIV and shortly thereafter the disease had advanced to AIDS, decreasing the person’s life expectancy and increasing the cost of care and treatment – both which could have been avoided with earlier testing.
More children are being born with HIV or AIDS when medical treatment can completely prevent mother-to-child transmission.
• The District accounted for nine percent of all pediatric AIDS cases in the United States during
2005. Between 2001 and 2006, there were 56 children ages 13 or younger diagnosed with either
HIV or AIDS in the District of Columbia. Many states reported no new cases among children
during this same time period.
Heterosexual contact leads new transmissions.
• Roughly 37% of newly reported HIV cases in the District were transmitted through heterosexual contact; followed by 27% through men having sex with men (MSM); 14% through intravenous drug use; and 22% from an unknown mode of transmission. Nationally, MSM remains the leading mode of transmission for new HIV cases.
Women are a growing proportion of the District’s epidemic.
• The number of women living with AIDS has increased by more than 76% over the past six years. The District has a larger number of newly reported HIV cases among females (47 cases per 100,000 residents) than in other jurisdictions.
Black community is hardest hit by the epidemic.
• Although black residents account for only 57% of the District’s population, they account for 81% of new reports of HIV cases and approximately 86% of living AIDS cases. Black women constitute only 58% of the District’s female population, but they account for 90% of all new female HIV cases and 93% of living AIDS cases among women.