HEALTH EMERGENCY:  The spread of drug-related AIDS among Latinos

	More than 73,000 Latinos living in the United States and Puerto Rico had injection-related AIDS or had already died from it by the end of 2000.  Thousands more were infected with the HIV virus.(1)
	Latinos accounted for 22 percent of new injection-related AIDS cases in 2000 although they represented only about 12 percent of the population.  (1), (2)
	Among those who inject drugs, Latinos are one and a half times as likely as whites to get AIDS.(3)
	Although AIDS deaths are down because of the new drugs, in 1999, AIDS was still among the top six leading causes of death for Latinos aged 20-54.(4)  More than half of those deaths were injection-related.(5)
	A survey done in 2000 reveals that over 60 percent of Latinos favor improving needle access to prevent HIV among people who inject drugs.  Over 60 percent support needle exchange programs, over-the-counter sales of syringes at pharmacies and physician prescription of syringes.(6)

The role of migration in spreading AIDS among Latinos

Footnotes

(1) The number of drug-related AIDS cases includes three exposure groups: "people who inject drugs," "men who have sex with men and inject drugs," and "heterosexual partners of injecting drug users."  Injecting drug users includes people who are currently injecting drugs as well as people who have injected drugs at some time in the past but who no longer do so. The data are adjusted to reduce cases with unknown exposure. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2000. HIV/AIDS surveillance report. vol. 13, no.1. Tables 19-20.

(2) The population data are from the Census Bureau and are for persons age 14 to 64, the age groups most affected by the injection-related HIV/AIDS epidemic.

(3) The estimate is derived from a study of injecting drug users in drug treatment done in 1991-92. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1994. National HIV serosurveillance summary, results through 1992. vol. 3. page 19. 

(4) As a cause of death among Latinos in 1999, AIDS was:
sixth for those aged 20-24
fifth for those aged 25-34
third for those aged 35-44
sixth for those aged 45-54. 
See National Vital Statistics Reports. 2001. “Deaths: leading causes for 1999,”  Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, by Robert N. Anderson, vol. 49, no. 11, October 12. Table 2. Available in Adobe Acrobat.

(5) The assumption is that AIDS deaths by exposure group for Latinos roughly correspond to cumulative AIDS cases by exposure group for Latinos. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2000. HIV/AIDS surveillance report. vol. 13, no.1; Tables 19-20.  

(6) Kaiser Family Foundation. 2001. "Latinos views of the HIV/AIDS epidemic at 20 years: findings from a national survey." Menlo Park, CA. page 19.

For a list of other materials used on this website, see References.