Saturday, March 11, 2006

Why Blacks disproportionately affected by AIDS

This theory from Ronald Bailey of Reason;

..... two researchers found that the increase of AIDS among American blacks closely tracked the rise in incarceration rates of black men over the past two decades. The researchers point out that about one out of 12 black men are in jail or prison, compared with one in 100 white men. And if current trends continue, a third of all black males born today will spend some time in prison.

Prisoners become infected with HIV through sex and intravenous drug use. Data on the prevalence of sexual activity in prison vary, but one conservative estimate found that 20 percent of male prisoners experience some type of sexual assault and 7 percent are raped.

....Until recently, prison wardens and the state and federal legislators have largely looked away, not wanting to deal with the crude and brutal facts of prisoner sex. Their inaction has incubated a public health crisis. Of course, the most effective way to prevent HIV infections among prisoners would be for correctional officer and administrators to put a stop to sexual intercourse and oral sex in their institutions. But since inmates tend to be young, violent, testosterone-fueled men, that is much easier said than done.


....Shockingly, many corrections officials oppose testing inmates for HIV infection when they are initially locked up because their budget-strapped institutions would then be obligated to pay for their treatment. One result is the tragic rise in infection rates among African-Americans.

....Government scientists did not create the HIV virus, but a conspiracy of inaction and silence among government officials is worsening the AIDS epidemic among black Americans.

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