National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) is being observed this year on February 7. A key goal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign is empowering communities, partners, and healthcare providers to work together to reduce HIV stigma and promote prevention, testing, and treatment among all affected communities, including Black/African American people.

To help you and your patients or clients prepare for and mark NBHAAD, we have compiled information on an upcoming NBHAAD virtual event, recent HIV surveillance data, and an annotated list of online resources focusing on HIV/AIDS in the Black/African American community. 

Virtual Event

“Live with Leadership” Webinar to Focus on HIV/AIDS in Black and African American Communities

On February 7, the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy is hosting “Live with Leadership: A Conversation Commemorating National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.” Event participants will discuss accelerated efforts to address HIV in Black and African-American communities, progress in the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, as well as innovative programming through the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund. If you are interested in joining the webinar, please click here to register.

HIV Surveillance Highlights

According to CDC’s latest HIV surveillance data:

• In 2019, Blacks/African Americans (African Americans) accounted for 42% of HIV diagnoses, despite making up 12% of the U.S. population.
• The HIV diagnosis rate during 2019 among African Americans (37.3 per 100,000) was about eight times higher than that in Whites and ten times higher than that in Asian Americans (4.6 and 3.9 per 100,000, respectively).
• The 9,421 new HIV diagnoses among African American gay and bisexual men accounted for about one-quarter (26%) of all U.S. HIV diagnoses during 2019, and 61% of all new diagnoses among African Americans.
• About 40% of the approximately 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S. during 2019 were African Americans.
• In 2019, there were a total of 6,633 deaths among African Americans with an HIV diagnosis, accounting for 43% of the total U.S. deaths among persons diagnosed with HIV infection in that year.
• Nearly half (47%) of the nearly 568,000 clients in the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program in 2019 were African Americans. Among this group of clients, 45% were age 50 years or older, 66% lived at or below the federal poverty level, and 85% were virally suppressed.

Fact Sheets, Reports, and Infographics

HIV and African American People. This CDC fact sheet has information on new HIV diagnoses and trends, HIV prevalence, deaths, the continuum of HIV care, HIV prevention challenges, and steps CDC is taking to address the HIV epidemic among African Americans.

HIV and African American Gay and Bisexual Men. This CDC fact sheet includes information about HIV diagnoses and trends, with breakdowns by age; HIV prevalence; the HIV care continuum; challenges that place African American gay and bisexual men at risk for HIV; and steps CDC is taking to address the epidemic in this population group.

HIV in the United States and Dependent Areas. This CDC fact sheet includes information on the disproportionately high number of new HIV diagnoses among African American men and women. Also available in Spanish.

Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019. This 123-page CDC surveillance report includes detailed information about HIV cases and deaths among Blacks/African Americans and other racial/ethnic groups. Breakdowns are also provided by age, gender, HIV transmission category, and geographic region.

Black Americans and HIV/AIDS: The Basics. This annotated fact sheet from the Kaiser Family Foundation was updated in 2020.  It provides detailed information on HIV/AIDS among Black Americans for the following topic areas: key facts, overview, transmission, women and young people, gay and bisexual men, geography, and HIV testing and access to prevention and care.

Black/African American Clients: Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, 2019. This fact sheet from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) summarizes selected demographic characteristics of Black/African American persons served by the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

Blacks/African Americans with HIV. This CDC infographic summarizes 2018 data on the HIV care continuum among Blacks/African Americans.

Selected Websites and Organizations

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day #NBHAAD. This is HIV.gov’s website for the awareness day.  It includes an event planning guide, a social media kit, materials from CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign, and other resources about HIV among African Americans.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Toolkit. This CDC website includes a series of sample social media posts that can be used to raise awareness of HIV and highlight progress being made to reduce HIV among African Americans.

Black AIDS Institute. The Black AIDS Institute is a leading organization addressing HIV/AIDS among Black Americans. Their website provides detailed information about the range of programs and services offered by the Institute.

NMAC. The NMAC website has extensive resources in support of its mission to develop leadership in communities of color to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  These include program listings, conference information, a blog, and a resource library.

HIV/AIDS Resource Center for African Americans. This section on TheBody.com website has links to numerous resources about HIV/AIDS in the African American community, including recent news articles, opinion pieces, interviews, and personal stories.