On the same day that at-home HIV tests won federal approval, a Fresh Air segment on National Public Radio discussed the health epidemic of HIV among black Americans, who are disproportionately affected by the virus.
From an NPR post:
Of the more than 1 million people in the U.S. infected with HIV, nearly half are black men, women and children — even though blacks make up about 13 percent of the population. AIDS is the primary killer of African-Americans ages 19 to 44, and the mortality rate is 10 times higher for black Americans than for whites.
Guests Renata Simone, director of the new PBS Frontline documentary Endgame: AIDS in Black America, and Robert Fullilove, EdD, a professor of clinical sociomedical studies at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and chairman of the HIV/AIDS advisory committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, joined host Terry Gross in discussing political, social and cultural factors contributing to the rapid spread of the disease seen in the last three decades.
Having recorded numerous personal stories from churches, prisons, clinics and more during the making of her documentary, Simone reported, "Right now, today in 2012, this is an epidemic of people that we recognize and, if our lives were any different, we could be."
Previously: A call for safe sex awareness to combat HIV in China and Women underrepresented in AIDS research
