World AIDS Day 2015: 8 Shocking Statistics About HIV In Latino Community

Dec. 1 marks a very important public health holiday around the globe: World AIDS Day. This year, the theme of the awareness holiday is to challenge people to rethink outdated stereotypes, challenge myths and be positive about HIV, with our "Think Positive: Rethink HIV" campaign. AIDS, which stands for "Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome," is the last step for the HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) infection. In the United States, an estimated one million are living with AIDS and one in six are unaware of their infection. And from a global standpoint, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that a whopping 35 million are living with AIDS.

Here are seven shocking statistics and facts about AIDS in the Hispanic/Latino community:

1. According to 2014 data from UNAIDS, an estimated 2 million people were living with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean and 100 000 people became newly infected.

2. According to the Centers and Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hispanics have a disproportionately high HIV infection rate. In fact, the CDC has found that Hispanics living in the United States have an HIV infection rate that is more than three times higher than Caucasians.

3. In 2013, Hispanic/Latino men accounted for 87% (8,500) of all estimated new HIV infections among Hispanics/Latinos in the United States. Hispanic women/Latinas accounted for 14% (1,400) of the estimated new infections among all Hispanics/Latinos in the United States in 2010.

4. According to the CDC, Latinos account for 21 percent of all new HIV infections in the United States.

5. At some point in their lives, an estimated 1 in 36 Hispanic/Latino men and 1 in 106 Hispanic/Latino women will be diagnosed with HIV.

6. In 2010, among Latinos who had been diagnosed with HIV:

• Just over half (54 percent) were retained in care
• Fewer than half (44 percent) were prescribed antiretroviral therapy
• Just 37 percent achieved viral suppression – meaning the virus is under control at a level that helps keep people healthy and reduces the risk of transmitting the virus to others

7. HIV remains a major public health concern in Latino communities – Latinos bear a disproportionate burden of HIV in the United States, representing 17 percent of the population but 21 percent of new HIV infections.

8. By the end of 2012, an estimated 125,051 Hispanics/Latinos with AIDS had died in the United States and in 2013, HIV was the eighth leading cause of death among Hispanics/Latinos aged 25 to 34.