Friday, October 14, 2011

The largest segment of new HIV infections in the nation are 13 - 29 year-old males who have sex with men

Thirty years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, gay and bisexual men of all races remain most affected by HIV in the U.S., said Tracy Elliott, executive director of AID Atlanta. For instance, in 2009, he said white men accounted for the largest number of new infections - 11,400 - followed closely by black men – 10,800. In Georgia, there were 1,366 new HIV diagnoses in the same year. Of those, 49% were among gay men, with blacks accounting for 74%, whites 21% and Hispanics 5%. Among gay white men, Elliott said, the distribution was very consistent, about 3,200 new infections for those aged 13 to 29. But among black gay men, the latest numbers show the distribution was weighted toward those 13 to 29 with 6,500 new infections.

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