NAACP - Quick Stats: The Ryan White CARE Act

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Quick Stats: The Ryan White CARE Act

At the end of 2002, more than 4 in 10 people living with AIDS in the United States were African American

At the end of 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that 1.2 million Americans were living with HIV and AIDS ––more people are now living with AIDS in the U.S. than at any other time in the epidemic (Centers of Disease Control 2006).
An estimated 500,000+ people living with HIV/AIDS receive care annually through the CARE act.

At the end of 2002, more than 4 in 10 people living with AIDS in the United States were African American
African Americans make up just 12.8% of the U.S. population, but account for 49.3 of all AIDS cases. (Centers for Disease Control, 2003)

Ryan White CARE Act

Nearly half (46%) of those who received services under the Ryan White Act in 2002 were African American (HRSA 2006).
Each year, over 40,000 Americans are newly diagnosed with HIV.
Not only do minorities account for an increasing proportion of people living with AIDS, they represent an ever-growing number of people dying from it. More than 7 in 10 deaths from AIDS in the United States (72.2 percent) during 2002 occurred in racial or ethnic minorities—52.3 percent of deaths were among African Americans and 18.7 percent were among Hispanics. (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2005)
African-American women account for 67% of all AIDS cases among women. The AIDS case rate for African American women was 25 times higher than the rate for white women. (Centers for Disease Control, 2005)
The AIDS case rate for African American men in 2003 (103.8 cases per 100,000) was the highest of any subgroup and was eight times the rate for white men. (Health Resources and Services Administration, 2005)
HIV was the third leading cause of death among all African-Americans between the ages of 25 and 35, and the leading cause of death for African-American women in this age group. (Kaiser Family Foundation Fact Sheet, 2004)
The HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS), the only nationally representative study of people with HIV/AIDS receiving regular or ongoing medical care for HIV infection, found that African Americans fared more poorly on several important measures of access and quality than whites; these differences diminished over time but were not completely eliminated.5 HCSUS also found that African Americans were more likely to report postponing medical care because they lacked transportation, were too sick to go to the doctor, or had other competing needs.
Studies have shown that those receiving primary medical care from a Ryan White CARE Act-funded provider were 60-70 percent more likely to report appropriate medical care and 40-50 percent more likely to report being on key anti-HIV medications than those who received their primary medical care from a provider not covered by the CARE Act.

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Quick Stats: The Ryan White CARE Act