Important Stats on HIV Risks

To the Editors:

Fifty percent of new infections in the U.S. are among people under the age of 25. Each year, over 20,000 people under 25 become HIV+ in the U.S. At least one American under the age of 20 becomes infected with HIV every hour of every day (www.thebody.com).
It has come to my attention that people really want to know statistics surrounding HIV. I can understand this desire to a certain extent, after all, statistics are real. Though I remind myself that there is under-reporting, over-reporting, statistics slanted to prove a point, and just because a statistic has been “true” for the past year, it does not mean that it is a projection of what is to come. 58percent of all adolescent AIDS cases in the U.S. are young women. 70 percent of new U.S. adolescent AIDS cases are African-American, and 24 percent Latino; yet, these groups are only 13 percent and 15 percent respectively of U.S. adolescents. A recent study reported that as many as one third of young gay black men are HIV+. Almost half of young gay men admit to having had unprotected sex in the previous six months (www.thebody.com).
Another reason I cannot in good faith provide people with statistics is because of the above. Many people feel that if they do not fit into the “high risk group” that is represented, then they do not have to worry about being HIV+. After all, using the above statistics of “70 percent of new US adolescent AIDS cases are African-American, and 24 percent Latino,” as a white adolescent, my risk is only 6 percent? No. EVERYONE IS EQUALLY AT RISK. It is not the race, class or sexuality of an individual that puts him or her at risk it is a person’s behavior that puts him/herself at risk. This past week, December 1-7th, was HIV/AIDS Awareness Week. Thanks to the HIV Test Specialists, there was extended testing from 4 to 10 p.m., Monday through Thursday, with results available next Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. The HIV Educators managed to do five dorm presentations about HIV. There were two lectures about the pandemic in Africa, and the film PANDEMIC, shown by the Student Global AIDS Campaign.
On campus this week, we were able to focus on many different aspects of HIV/AIDS. Yet as we look at shocking world projections of the millions infected and dying in various other countries, I fear that these numbers lead people to assume that in the US people are not get ting infected. In 2002 there were 45,000 new infections in the US alone (UNAIDS). In Oberlin terms, that’s over 15 times the number of people at this school. Regardless of these statistics, a fact is that ANYONE in the world can transmit HIV, in my own statistical terms I can say for certain that any time a person puts him/herself at risk, there is a 100 percent POSSIBILITY of HIV transmission.

–Sarah Colvario
College senior
HIV Educator, Test Specialist and
HIV Prevention Programs Coordinator for the Wellness Center