National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 20)
Posted March 19, 2022
National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on March 20th is an opportunity to raise awareness of the impact of HIV on Native people (American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians) across the United States and territorial areas. Today and every day, we can help reduce stigma and work to expand HIV education, testing, prevention, and treatment in Native communities.
The 2022 #NNHAD theme is “Reflection. Celebration. Rejuvenation.” Learn more from the National Native HIV Network.
Resources from PAETC and Partner Organizations
View HIV Learning Network’s Culturally-Based Programs to Improve Engagement and Health Outcomes: Addressing Stigma for Native Hawaiian with HIV with speaker Malulani Orton, Native Hawaiian Medical Case Manager at Hawai’i Health & Harm Reduction Center.
View Session 3 of California PTC’s Medical Mistrust Symposium, which focuses on Meaningfully Engaging the Tribal Community with speaker Michael Allison, Native American Liaison at the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS).
Get the latest data on HIV and Native People
According to the CDC, from 2015 to 2019, American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) men experienced a 23% increase in new HIV diagnoses, and AI/AN women experienced a 4% decrease. Although AI/AN women had an overall decrease in new HIV diagnoses from 2015 to 2019, a closer look at the recent years between 2018 to 2019 shows an alarming 50% increase.
Among Native communities, HIV impacts certain groups more than others– for example, Gay and Bisexual Men represented 77% of new HIV diagnoses among AI/AN men in 2019. In the same year, injection drug use accounted for 40% of new HIV diagnoses among AI/AN women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, factors such as high rates of sexually transmitted diseases among AI/AN populations, alcohol and drug use, and cultural stigma result in disproportionate HIV rates among Native communities.
It is also important to recognize how social determinants of health can negatively impact HIV-related health outcomes for Native communities due to a lack of access to affordable health care and financial insecurity. For example:
- In 2018, 23.7% of the AI/AN population were living in poverty, compared to 13.1% of the U.S. population.
- In the same year, 19.1% of the AI/AN population were uninsured, compared to 8.9% of the U.S. population.
Check out the corresponding infographics from AIDSVu.org:
