According to an August 2004 “repeated surveillance” study done by The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), re-released this month, 85,386 people in New York City live with HIV, and the disease is on the rise in most New York City communities.
Homosexual men made up the largest percentage with a reported 61% of an estimated 27,689 new cases. Among females, 77% were infected through heterosexual contact. The infection rate through intravenous drug use accounted for 15% of male infections and 21.5% of female infections.
Hugh Beckford the Executive director of Caribbean and American family service in Brooklyn said “a community with a high level of unemployed and substance abuse forces many persons to seek assistance and relationship with others who might provide financial means to function.” In less sympathetic words: sex for money.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene re-released a January, 2005 that shows approximately 1 in 70 New Yorkers is infected with HIV
The HIV infection rate by borough:
Manhattan 28.4%
Brooklyn 28.2%
Bronx 23%
Queens 14.7%
Staten Island 1.7%
New York City has the highest AIDS case rate in the country, with more AIDS cases than Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Washington DC combined. HIV is the 3rd leading cause of death below age 65 in New York City.
-- Cheryl Campbell