Among U. S. racial and ethnic minority populations, African American communities are the most disproportionately impacted and affected by HIV/AIDS (CDC, 2009; CDC, 2008). The chapters in this volume seek to explore factors that contribute to this disparity as well as methods for intervening and positively impacting the e- demic in the U. S. The book is divided into two sections. The first section includes chapters that explore specific contextual and structural factors related to HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention in African Americans. The second section is composed of chapters that address the latest in intervention strategies, including best-evidence and promising-evidence based behavioral interventions, program evaluation, cost effectiveness analyses and HIV testing and counseling. As background for the book, the Introduction provides a summary of the context and importance of other infectious disease rates, (i. e. , sexually transmitted diseases [STDs] and tubercu- sis), to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in African Americans and a brief introductory discussion on the major contextual factors related to the acquisition and transmission of STDs/HIV. Contextual Chapters Johnson & Dean author the first chapter in this section, which discusses the history and epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among African Americans. Specifically, this ch- ter provides a definition for and description of the US surveillance systems used to track HIV/AIDS and presents data on HIV or AIDS cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2006 and reported to CDC as of June 30, 2007.
African Americans and HIV/AIDS
Understanding and Addressing the Epidemic
Donna Hubbard McCree, Kenneth T. Jones, and Ann O'Leary, editors
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of the more than one million Americans living with HIV/AIDS are African Americans, despite the fact that they comprise only thirteen percent of the US population. Incidence among African Americans is estimated to be approximately 8 times that of European Americans. HIV/AIDS disparities have existed across this diverse group, and continue to take a devastating toll. To intervene effectively, public health professionals must understand the context in which high-risk behavior occurs, and have access to relevant and current prevention strategies.
African Americans and HIV/AIDS succeeds on both counts by providing an analysis of the historical, psychosocial, economic, and political issues related to HIV transmission in the black community, and offering a wealth of evidence-based and emerging interventions (including behavioral interventions, and counseling and testing strategies) tailored to specific subpopulations. This dual perspective gives readers the widest understanding of these and other key areas including:
? The relationship between poverty, discrimination, and other social disparities to HIV.
? The evolving response of the black church to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
? HIV/AIDS in the context of other sexually transmitted infections.
? HIV/AIDS prevention strategies specifically targeting heterosexually active men, and women, men who have sex with men, injection drug users, and adolescents.
? Prison-based intervention programs.
? Structural interventions emphasizing social conditions.
Practitioners, researchers, and graduate students in public health, disease prevention, health disparities, and minority health will find African Americans and HIV/AIDS a ready source of valuable background and practical knowledge.
