Sobering Trends

The proportion of women diagnosed with AIDS in California's Alameda County, which includes Oakland and most of the East San Francisco Bay area, increased from 3% of total cases in the 1980s to 19% in 2004 and 2005, according to public-health data. Nationally, African-American women and Latinas accounted for 82% of women diagnosed with AIDS in 2004, although together they are just one fourth of the U.S. population of women. AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-American women ages 25'34.