National Latino AIDS Awareness Day

HIV is a serious health threat to Latino communities in the United States. While Hispanics/Latinos represent approximately 15 percent of the U.S. population, they account for an estimated 18 percent of people living with HIV in the U.S. (194,000 persons), and an estimated 17 percent of new infections each year (9,700 infections). National Latino AIDS Awareness Day provides Latino communities with an opportunity to encourage HIV prevention, testing, and treatment.

October 15th is National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD).

Initiated in 2003 by the Latino Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic Federation in partnership with faith and community organizations, NLAAD raises awareness of issues concerning HIV/AIDS with the Hispanic/Latino population living in the United States and abroad.

Complex Factors Increase HIV Risk

There is no single Hispanic/Latino culture in the United States; the factors driving the epidemic in this population are as diverse as the communities themselves. While prevention efforts have helped to maintain stability in the overall level of new HIV infections among Latinos for more than a decade, this population continues to be affected by HIV at far too high a level. A number of factors contribute to the HIV epidemic in Hispanic/Latino communities in the United States including:

• Behavioral risk factors such as men who have sex with men and women, men who have sex with men, men and women who have sex with injection drug users,
• Socioeconomic factors such as poverty, discrimination, social isolation and migration, lack of access to healthcare and language barriers,
• Stigma associated with citizenship status, HIV, and risky behaviors such as sex with men who have sex with other men and substance abuse,
• High prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),
• Young men who have sex with men are not consistently targeted with effective, culturally-appropriate HIV prevention messages and services, and
• Cultural factors, including where a person is born. For example, data suggest that Hispanics born in Puerto Rico are more likely than other Hispanics to contract HIV as a result of injection drug use. By contrast, sexual contact with other men is the primary cause of HIV infection among men born in Mexico.

Because the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population is expected to triple from 2000 to 2050, HIV/AIDS prevention within this population will continue to be a major priority for public health.

What Can Hispanic/Latino Men and Women Do?

• Get tested to learn whether or not they are infected with HIV,
• Seek early medical care if they learn they are infected,
• Protect themselves and others from HIV through safer sex practices and not sharing needles if they inject drugs,
• Educate themselves and others about HIV, and
• Get involved in their communities to help prevent HIV or provide services to those in need.

More Information

• Information on HIV/AIDS among Hispanic/Latinos
  • CDC's HIV and Hispanics/Latinos Web page
  • CDC's HIV and Hispanics/Latinos Web page (en español)
  • HIV/AIDS among Hispanics/Latinos fact sheet
  • HIV/AIDS among Hispanics/Latinos fact sheet (en español)
    

• Information on HIV/AIDS in the United States

  • HIV/AIDS in the United States
  • HIV/AIDS in the United States (en español)
    

• Basic HIV Information
  Learn about HIV/AIDS, how it is and is not transmitted, the risk factors for HIV transmission, preventing transmission and the symptoms of HIV infection.

  • English
  • En español

• Latino Commission on AIDS
  The Latino Commission on AIDS is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community.

• Act Against AIDS
  Be a Part of the Solution. What You Can Do.