Changing Faces

The rate of new infections in the United States has remained constant at 40,000 for each of the past 10 years. But although the number has remained the same, the faces behind those statistics have changed, as shown by federal AIDS data. ' In 2000, the most recent year for which federal statistics are available, 74.2% of reported AIDS cases occurred among men, with 25.8% among women, whereas in 1990 86.6% were in men and 13.4% were among women. ' In 2000, men who have sex with men represented 39.6% of reported AIDS cases, heterosexuals represented 26.5%, and injection-drug users, 27.3%. These percentages are decidedly different from those of 1990, when 54.3% of AIDS diagnoses were among men who have sex with men, 7.4% among heterosexuals, and 25.9% among injection-drug users. ' AIDS is disproportionately affecting communities of color, with 48.9% of AIDS diagnoses in 2000 occurring among African-Americans, although they make up only 12% of the U.S. population. Latinos accounted for 19.9% of AIDS cases, although they represent only 12.5% of the U.S. population. Non-Hispanic Caucasians accounted for 29.7% of reported AIDS cases.