Monday, February 7, marks National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) 2022. By numerous measures, Black Americans are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic. NBHAAD highlights related challenges while raising awareness about prevention, testing, treatment and more.

“This #NBHAAD we are focused on equity,” tweeted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV Prevention, adding: “We must end unequal access to #HIV prevention & care, & address root causes that contribute to disparities in HIV such as poverty, stigma, systemic racism, & unequal access to healthcare & education.”

In 2020, African Americans represented 12% of the U.S. population age 13 and older but accounted for 43% of new HIV diagnoses, according to AIDSVu.org, which analyzes HIV data and creates related infographics and interactive maps.

On an optimistic note, AIDSVu does note that overall, new HIV diagnoses are declining among African Americans. In fact, they dropped 10% between 2015 and 2019.

Disproportionate HIV rates are more pronounced in the South, where in 2020, Black Americans accounted for 52% of new HIV diagnoses but made up only 19% of the population in that region.

Noting that disparities affecting Black Americans are not confined to HIV rates, AIDSVu offers other statistics:

  • In 2020, 19.5% of Black Americans were living in poverty, compared with 11% of the overall U.S. population.

  • In 2020, Black families were twice as likely as white families to face food insecurity.

  • COVID-19 data from the CDC show that Black populations in the United States experience higher rates of COVID-19–related hospitalization and death compared with non-Hispanic white populations.

In related NBHAAD content, AIDSVu published two Q&As, “Dr. Rueben C. Warren: The Bioethics of HIV Disparities in the Black Community” and “Reginald Smith on Heterosexual Black Men, HIV, and Healing.”

The CDC makes available a number of NBHAAD resources on HIV.gov, including graphics, campaigns and information on HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as HIV prevention. More data are available on the CDC’s page “HIV and African American People.” For example, 16,002 African Americans were diagnosed with HIV in 2018.

The updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which covers 2022 to 2025 and was released on World AIDS Day, December 1, for the first time addresses racism and prioritizes the reduction of HIV-related disparities and health inequities. For more, see “What’s New in the Updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy?”

To find more campaigns and activities related to this awareness day, search #NBHAAD on social media (you’ll find posts like the ones embedded in this article) and visit the website EveryBlackBody.org, where the folks at United We Rise have compiled a calendar of events.

To learn more about other HIV awareness days, including a calendar you can download and print, visit “2022 HIV/AIDS Awareness Days.”

For recent articles related to NBHAAD, see the POZ Science article “Lack of Access to Resources Makes Black Folks More Vulnerable to HIV” the AIDS United blog post “Embracing Our Full Selves This National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.”