Heterosexuals and Injection Drug Users

• Heterosexuals and Injection Drug Users: Heterosexuals and injection drug users also continue to be affected by HIV.
  • Individuals infected through heterosexual contact account for 31% of annual new HIV infections and 28% of people living with HIV.
  • As a group, women account for 27% of annual new HIV infections and 25% of those living with HIV.
  • Injection drug users represent 12% of annual new HIV infections and 19% of those living with HIV.

Estimates of New HIV Infections in the US, By Transmission Category, 2006

Hall HI, Song R, Rhodes P, et al. Estimation of HIV Incidence in the US. JAMA 2008;300: 520–529.

By Race/Ethnicity

• African Americans: Among racial/ethnic groups, African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV and AIDS in the nation.
  • While blacks represent approximately 12% of the U.S. population, they account for almost half (46%) of people living with HIV in the US, as well as nearly half (45%) of new infections each year. HIV infections among blacks overall have been roughly stable since the early 1990s.
  • At some point in their life, approximately one in 16 black men will be diagnosed with HIV, as will one in 30 black women.
  • The rate of new HIV infections for black men is about six times as high as that of white men, nearly three times that of Hispanic/Latino men, and more than twice that of black women.
  • The HIV incidence rate for black women is nearly 15 times as high as that of white women, and nearly four times that of Hispanic/Latino women.