CCHRPP Investigators Look at Racial and Ethnic Disparities in HIV Diagnoses in New CAMP Publication
Despite declining HIV infection rates, persistent racial and ethnic disparities remain. In the United States, heterosexually active adult (HAA) women have a two-fold higher HIV diagnosis rate than men. Compared to White non-Hispanics, Black HAAs have a 20-fold higher HIV diagnosis rate and Hispanic HAAs have a 4-fold higher HIV diagnosis rate. Researchers from CAMP’s partner institution, University at Albany, State University of New York, estimated the number of HAAs by state, race and ethnicity, and sex through a meta-analysis of logistic regression results from several national surveys. Heterosexually-acquired HIV diagnoses were overlaid to calculate racial- and ethnic-specific rates and disparity measures by sex and state.
Results
- HAA women aged ≥18 years have a two-fold higher HIV diagnosis rate than HAA men aged ≥18 years (rate per 100,000 HAAs, women: 6.57, men: 3.09)
- Compared to White non-Hispanic HAAs, Black HAAs have a 20-fold higher HIV diagnosis rate (relative rate [RR], men: 21.28; women: 19.55) and Hispanic HAAs have a 4-fold higher HIV diagnosis rate (RR, men: 4.68; women: 4.15)
- Disparities were ubiquitous across regions, with >75% of states in each region having Black-to-White RR ≥10.
Public Health Implications
Racial and ethnic disparities in HIV rates are high across all subnational regions, emphasizing the role for coordinated federal responses such as the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative to meet the needs of all communities. The persistent HIV-related disparities among Black and Hispanic communities confirm the need for culturally responsive interventions to address the social and structural factors associated with the disparities.