How HIV/AIDS have affected the African American and Latinos community in Washington, DC and How cultural competency affected the medical care and prevention within those two communities

HIV /AIDS among African Americans and Latinos

HIV or human immunodeficiency virus causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome ) and largely targets the human immune system (Sepkowitz 2001 , thus leaving the individuals affected with the disease more prone to other infections . HIV is predominantly contracted through direct contact of an individual 's bloodstream or mucus membrane with the bodily fluid of an infected person

Aids has been classified as a pandemic of great proportions (Kallings 2008 ) with about 33 million individuals affected by the disease both locally and abroad and being the cause

of death for about 2 million people , of which , 330 thousand are children

Statistics

African Americans

For the past several years , the number of people becoming infected with the HIV /AIDS virus has been steadily increasing , especially among the minority groups such as the Latinos and those of African descent . By the year 1986 , the percentage of African American people affected with the said disease was 25 . From the years 2001 to the year 2004 , the number of African Americans inflicted with the disease increased to 51 (CDC 2007a

During the year 2005 , about 469 ,298 individuals were estimated to be afflicted with the HIV /AIDS virus . Of these , African Americans comprise 49 of the said population of the same year . Among the male Africans Americans , the annual rate for the HIV /AIDS disease was 124 in every 100 ,000 individuals

For the past several years , the women of the United States have been devastated by the HIV...