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Latinos still face barriers when battling AIDS

Organizations and public health advocates around the country are recognizing National Latino AIDS Awareness Day and the challenges that Latinos still face when…

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HIV treatment has come a long way but for many Latinos, not far enough. Not only are Latinos three times more likely than whites to be infected with HIV, they are also less likely to have access to treatment.

For National Latino AIDS Awareness Day on Oct. 15, organizations around the country are coming together to learn about the barriers to AIDS education and treatment, and launch a conversation to find and implement solutions. The campaign coordinated by the Latino Commission on AIDS encourages people to get tested for HIV and share information using the hashtag #NLAAD.


To find a testing center near you, text your ZIP code to 566958.


In 2011, Latinos accounted for one in five of the new diagnoses of HIV infections in the United States. Access to education, care and bilingual health professionals are strategies that experts cite as ways to reduce the prevalence of HIV among Latinos.

“Latino populations are less likely than other racial/ethnic groups to have access to health insurance,” said Gregorio Millett, director of public policy at the Foundation for AIDS Research. “Given major advances in the use of medication to prevent and treat HIV infection, an inability to access health insurance to pay for such medications not only impacts the number of infections in the Latino community but mortality as well.”

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the number of uninsured Latinos between the ages of 19 and 64 decreased from 36 percent to 23 percent since the summer of 2013 with the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Still, that means more than one in five Latino adults are uninsured.

 

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