HIV Facts

Every 9 1/2 minutes, someone in the United States is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.  A startling fact presented by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  CDC arrived at the 9½ minutes figure by dividing the number of minutes in one year by the 56,300 new HIV infections that were estimated for 2006. This result indicates that, on average, one new HIV infection occurs every 9.34 minutes in a year.

While many people believe the AIDS epidemic is no longer a public health issue in the USA, these facts present that the epidemic is real:

• In 2006, an estimated 56,300 people became infected with HIV.
• More than 1 million people in the United States are living with HIV.
• Of those 1 million people living with HIV, 1 out of 5 do not know they are infected. (People who have HIV but don’t know it can unknowingly pass the virus to their partners.)
• Despite new therapies, people with HIV still develop AIDS.
• Over 1 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS.
• More than 14,000 people with AIDS still die each year in the United States.

Before we can stop any epidemic, we first have to realize the magnitude of the disease.  Knowing the facts, protecting yourself, talking with partners and loved ones  about HIV/AIDS and getting tested for HIV are the ways to stop the epidemic.

Visit Act Against AIDS and spread the word.

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1. Home HIV Test for World AIDS Day @ Home Health Blog says:

   November 12, 2009 at 2:29 pm

   [...] a previous entry about our home aids test, we discussed that in one year (2006) an estimated 56,300 people became [...]