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Notice to Readers: National Latino AIDS Awareness Day --- October
15, 2008
October 15 is National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD), which seeks to increase awareness of the
disproportionate effects of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in the
Hispanic/Latino population living in the United States. In 2006, Hispanics accounted for approximately 14.8% of the U.S. population
but 18.4% of persons who received an HIV/AIDS diagnosis
(1). For 2006, estimates of HIV incidence show that blacks had
the highest rate of new infections (83.8 per 100,000 population), followed by Hispanics (29.4 per 100,000) and
non-Hispanic whites (11.5 per 100,000) (2). Male-to-male sexual contact accounted for approximately half of the new infections among
all Hispanics and approximately 72% of new infections among Hispanic males
(2).
NLAAD also is a day for encouraging increased HIV testing. Results from the national HIV counseling and testing
database show that percentages of positive HIV tests representing new diagnoses were 1.5 times as high among Hispanics as
among non-Hispanic whites (CDC, unpublished data, 2005). In addition, modes of HIV infection among Hispanics have
been determined to vary by place of birth
(3), which calls for appropriate prevention activities in the diverse Hispanic
communities in the United States.
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