HIV stigma poses huge hurdle in society
As you are probably aware by now, LIVE CONSORTIUM is in the first week of its University HIV Anti-Stigma Campaign at Rice. The goal of the campaign is to educate the Rice community about HIV, the negative effects of stigma and how we, as a community, can create positive change. This article is the first in which I will write about the current HIV epidemic in Houston and what we can do together to solve the HIV problem. Current HIV statistics for Houston and The United States are astounding. Over a million Americans are currently living with HIV. Houston ranks eigth nationally in the number of total reported AIDS cases and one in 90 Houstonians is living with HIV. In Houston, African Americans represent 55 percent of all HIV infections and African American women represent approximately 75 percent of all women infected with HIV. Nationally, HIV remains one of the leading causes of death for persons age 25-44 and young people, ages 13- 24, are at greatest risk for acquiring HIV/AIDS.