December SIG Blog - Ethnic Minority and Multicultural Health SIG

The Special Interest Group (SIG) blog has released its second entry, written by the Ethnic Minority and Multicultural Health SIG. Released on World AIDS Day, the blog highlights recent HIV/AIDS statistics and information related to ethnic minority and multicultural health.

The Special Interest Group (SIG) blog is a tool used to showcase research being done by SBM SIG members, to raise awareness on specific issues, or to address changes in policy or practice related to each SIG. Each SBM SIG will contribute to the SIG blog approximately once per year.

The second SIG Blog has been released, both on the SBM SIG Blog page and on SBM's Facebook page. Visit SBM's Facebook page to post comments, questions or answers to the blog.

Ethnic Minority and Multicultural Health SIG Blog

December 2011

According to a global report by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2009), there were 33.3 million individuals living with HIV in 2009. This is equivalent to the entire population of Canada, or the combined populations of Texas and Virginia. That same year, 1.8 million people died of AIDS.

The theme for this year’s World AIDS day, December 1, 2011 is “Leading with Science, Uniting for Action” (aids.gov). This is apt, considering the grave need to further research on the physiological, behavioral, and psychological implications of HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is in the international spotlight on December 1, however this is a topic deserving of our year-round efforts in clinical, research, and policy work.

Some dismiss HIV/AIDS as a problem for the developing world. In reality, this is an international problem, and the U.S. is no exception. According to data examined by Prejean et al. (2011) from 2006-2009, there was an estimated incidence of 48,100 new cases of HIV infection in 2009 in the United States. Of those individuals, 61% were gay and bisexual men. In addition, results demonstrated continued racial/ethnic differences in incidence. African-Americans showed the highest incidence rates across racial groups, with rates among African-American males being disproportionately higher than other groups across race and gender. Concerning age alone, the highest incidence rate for HIV infection occurred in individuals aged 40-44 (CDC, 2009).

HIV/AIDS does not discriminate. This disease presents a public health crisis that affects individuals regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, or socioeconomic status. EMMH does not limit our focus to racial/ethnic disparities. EMMH is committed to understanding issues impacting groups across diversity classifications. Our membership consists of 335 researchers and clinicians, a number of whom focus their work on HIV/AIDS. If you are interested in becoming a member of the EMMH special interest group, please contact us to help us “lead in science” in the international effort to better understand and combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Written by:
Eleshia Morrison, M.A., EMMH Chair morrison.364@osu.edu
Luz Garcini, M.A., EMMH Co-Chair lgarcini@projects.sdsu.edu

References

CDC (2009). HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV infection and AIDS in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2009.

Prejean J, Song R, Hernandez A, Ziebell R, Green T, et al. (2011) Estimated HIV Incidence in the United States, 2006-2009. PLoS ONE 6(8): e17502. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017502.

World Health Organization (2011). http://www.who.int/topics/hiv_aids/en/.