HIV / AIDS

WHEREAS, HIV/AIDS has become an epidemic among the African-American community, and the NAACP has spoken forcefully on the issue, including the adoption of Resolutions since at least 1987; and

WHEREAS, data from the Center for Disease and Prevention indicate that African-Americans comprise 57 percent of new HIV infections in 25 states despite accounting for only 13 percent of the total U.S. population; and

WHEREAS, young African Americans have an even higher rate; those aged 13 to 24 years account for 63 percent of new HIV cases between January 1994 and June 1997; and

WHEREAS, among female AIDS cases , heterosexual sex has surpassed drug infection as the most common route of transmission, and black women make up approximately 60 percent of all new AIDS cases reported among U.S. women, and have an overall case rate sixteen (16) times that of their white counterparts; and

WHEREAS, two-thirds of the new cases of pediatric AIDS striking children under thirteen (13) are black children; and

WHEREAS, the rate of HIV infections has dropped sharply among whites, while black Americans increasingly bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic due to social, economic and political disparities and to a lack of education about the disease; and

WHEREAS, the population has been left vulnerable as prevention and health care options have been neglected; and

WHEREAS, prevention and treatment efforts face new obstacles as a result of these shifts, and AIDS policy must be altered to address these changes; and

WHEREAS, government funds to help minorities with AIDS prevention and treatment should be increased substantially; and

WHEREAS, African-American communities and civil rights leaders must help increase AIDS awareness; now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the NAACP calls for eliminating racial disparities in our Nation's approach to dealing with the AIDS epidemic in order to abolish the disproportionate incidences and deaths of African American and Latino communities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the government and private sources alleviate the dearth of funding for minority HIV/AIDS programs; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP and branches assist in eliminating stereotypical myths surrounding AIDS; monitor AIDS services for fairness of distribution; and ensure that prevention and quality treatment programs are available to all, and that the testing of new drugs are open to all and fairly utilized by all