The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that one-quarter of people in the United States living with HIV do not know that they are infected with the virus. This fact -- coupled with stigma and discrimination, misconceptions about the disease, inadequate healthcare and language barriers -- underscores the need to encourage Latinos to become educated about HIV/AIDS and to get tested regularly.
October 15, 2007, marks the fifth annual National Latino AIDS Awareness Day. On this day, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) pledges to continue working toward reducing the burden of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community in the United States. We commemorate everyone who has been lost to the disease and recognize those committed individuals who promote HIV/AIDS education and awareness in all communities.
Racial and ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2005, the adult and adolescent AIDS case rate was 3.5 times higher among Latinos than among whites. This is the second highest rate of any racial/ethnic group in the United States. By the end of 2005, an estimated 77,125 Latinos with AIDS in the United States had died.
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