If current HIV rates continue, about half of gay and bisexual black men in the United States will be diagnosed with the AIDS-causing virus in their lifetime, a new government analysis says.
Gay and bisexual Hispanic males — another population group at serious risk of HIV — have a one in four chance of contracting HIV, according to the report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
READ: 15 Shocking Symptoms Of HIV
“As alarming as these lifetime risk estimates are, they are not a foregone conclusion. They are a call to action,” said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention. “The prevention and care strategies we have at our disposal today provide a promising outlook for future reductions of HIV infections and disparities in the U.S., but hundreds of thousands of people will be diagnosed in their lifetime if we don’t scale up efforts now.”
The study found the overall risk of HIV in the United States has dropped to one in 99 over a lifetime, the CDC reported. That’s down from one in 78 about 10 years ago. But certain minority groups continue to be hit hardest.
Using diagnoses and death rates from 2009-2013, CDC researchers projected lifetime risk of HIV diagnosis by sex, race and ethnicity, state and more.
READ: Blacks With HIV Still Less Likely To Get Treatment – But Why?
The nation’s HIV epidemic still hits gay and bisexual men the most. CDC researchers predict that one in six will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. For gay or bisexual black males, the rate is one in two; for gay or bisexual Hispanic men, one in four; and for gay or bisexual white males, one in 11, the CDC said.