THE FACE OF HIV/AIDS

The first known case of HIV infection was found in a 1959 blood sample from a man in Kinshasa, Congo.

Today there are more than 30 million adults in the world living with HIV/AIDS, and just over half are women. In 2009 (the most recent year with complete statistics), almost 2 million people died of AIDS.

Every day in Kentucky, a new person is infected with HIV.

In Kentucky:

• About half of the people who become infected with HIV are men who have sex with men. Some of these men identify as gay or bisexual, but many others do not.
• Nearly a third of third of people who become infected with HIV are heterosexual.
• About 15% of people who become infected with HIV are drug users who share needles.
• 1 out of 4 people infected with HIV doesn’t know it.
• 1 out of 4 people with HIV is a woman.
• HIV rates are disproportionately higher in African-Americans and Latinos.
• Black men and women represent about 7% of Kentucky’s population, but account for almost 40% of new HIV infections.
• Latinos represent about 2% of Kentucky’s total population, but account for nearly 10% of new HIV infections.
• Rates of HIV infection are increasing among youth and in older adults 45+.