Did you know? May 19 is the 7th annual National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. To commemorate the occasion, and to raise awareness about sexual health in A&PI communities, the Banyan Tree Project recently released a new public service announcement particularly aimed toward young A&PI women, aged 18-34, in an attempt to curb the alarming rise in new HIV and STD infections happening in this demographic. Take a look:
Recent analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that A&PIs have the highest rate of increase in new HIV infections in the nation, the only statistically significant growth among any racial or ethnic group, and yet two-thirds of A&PIs have never been tested for HIV. Some numbers:
KEY FACTS ABOUT HIV, STDs and A&PI WOMEN:To learn more about National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and what you can and how to help spread the word, go to the Banyan Tree Project website here. The Banyan Tree Project is funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A&PI women have the highest rate of increase in new HIV infections - higher than any other ethnic group.
80% of A&PI women living with HIV contracted it through heterosexual sex.
LA&PI women are 4 times more likely than A&PI men to have a sexually transmitted disease.
KEY FACTS ABOUT HIV and A&PIs GENERALLY:
1 in 3 Asians & Pacific Islanders living with HIV don’t know it
Over two-thirds of Asians and over half of Pacific Islanders have never been tested for HIV
Between 2001 and 2006, the number of new HIV infections among young gay and bisexual Asian and Pacific Islander men more than doubled