The Black AIDS Institute is humbled to join our brothers and sisters across the globe on World AIDS Day today and every day – to unite in the fight against HIV/AIDS, show our love and support for people living with HIV, and remember those we have lost to HIV-related illnesses.
There’s no better theme than this year’s “Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone’s Voice” because what we have learned throughout our many decades of doing this work is that when we come together on accord – with one voice and one purpose – we can make great strides in combatting HIV/AIDS and delivering critical, life-services medicine and services to our community.
We have so much more work to do. In 2019, more over 36,000 new cases were reported – adding to the more than 1 million people in the U.S. living with HIV/AIDS. Black Americans still account for approximately 42% of all new cases in the U.S. We must not think of the AIDS epidemic as some bygone, eradicated condition.
We have much more work to do to ensure Equitable Access for people who are immunocompromised. The facts laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic – that communities of color were devastated by the virus at a disproportionate rate – should fuel a national movement to build a fairer health system – something that we have been advocating for decades.
Far too many Black Americans lack adequate access to healthcare. That, in turn, leads to a huge disconnect between people acquiring HIV but never getting tested for it. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 13 percent of all people with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. don’t know they have the virus.
BAI is advocating for a national strategy to focus on HIV/AIDS health as an underlying “comorbidity” that leave communities vulnerable to pandemics such as COVID-19. All too often the approach to preventive healthcare leaves out people living with HIV/AIDS who are immunocompromised.
We must create a national effort to end HIV/AIDS with the same conviction and sustained efforts that we give to heart disease, asthma, cancer, and other illnesses. Any policy to improve public health for Black and all Americans must include the grassroots work of organizations such as ours and our many partners across the globe committed to ending HIV/AIDS.
-The Black AIDS Institute (BAI)
Visit BlackAIDS.org for resources, information and to learn how you can support the effort to end HIV/AIDS.
