HIV Increasing Among Teens and Young Adults

Nearly a week before the national 2008 HIV Prevention Leadership Summit convenes in Detroit June 11 through June 14 at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has announced that this is the third consecutive year that Michigan is seeing significant increases in HIV among teens and young adults. This is a trend that is starting nationally as well.

The rate of new diagnoses among 13 to 24 year olds in Michigan almost doubled between 2002 and 2006 (from 5.7 to 9.7 cases per 100,000) with most of the cases occurring among those aged 20 to 24 years old at diagnosis. Of the 13 to 24 year olds diagnosed with HIV/AIDS between 2002 and 2006, 76 percent are African American and 48 percent are African-American males having sex with males.

"We cannot afford to become complacent with HIV and AIDS in Michigan," said Janet Olszewski, director of the MDCH. "Because of the availability of medicines to treat this illness, many individuals believe AIDS is a thing of the past, but it is still a public health threat that we need to double our efforts to eliminate. In particular, we need to increase prevention efforts among youth and specifically tailor these programs to those at highest risk."

HIV/AIDS continue to disproportionately affect the state's African-American communities at all ages. There were significant increases in rates of new diagnoses among blacks whereas rates among all other race/sex groups were level. African Americans make up 14 percent of the state's population, but accounted for 62 percent of all cases of HIV/AIDS diagnosed in 2006 with a rate almost six times higher than that among whites.

"These trends underscore the importance of continuing to ensure that there are a range of options for Michigan's residents to be tested and to learn their HIV status, including highly targeted programs for MSM and African-American communities," said Debra Szwejda, acting director, Division of Health, Wellness and Disease Control. "Early diagnosis is critical to helping those who are found to be HIV infected live healthier and longer lives through proper treatment."

"The rise in HIV infection among adolescents and young adults makes two things very clear," said Dr. Elizabeth Secord, medical director of the Horizons Project at Children's Hospital of Michigan. "First, we need to do a better job educating and influencing adolescents about HIV prevention, that is, about safe and responsible sex. Second, we need to bring testing to the young people who are at risk so that they can get treatment if needed. At a time when federal funds are decreasing for these efforts, we need the help of not just the medical community, but also the community at large. Tolerance, education and community awareness are the best tools we have."

MDCH continues to focus its prevention resources on those communities that HIV and AIDS have had the greatest impact. MDCH provides more than $2 million in federal funding to support highly targeted, community-based HIV prevention services, including testing and health education/risk reduction services. In 2007, more than one-third of the HIV tests performed in public sites were for individuals under the age of 24. Michigan also has been addressing this issue in schools by offering A Silent Crisis: Creating Safe Schools for Sexual Minority Youth workshops throughout the state. To date, 25 workshops have been implemented to reach more than 825 educators.

MDCH also receives funds from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) under the Minority AIDS Initiative, to link persons with HIV/AIDS to essential medical services and the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. This program, Youth Link, focuses on provision of outreach efforts targeting African-American youth living with HIV/AIDS in Detroit.

"These data make us painfully aware of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the future of the African-American community," said Dr. Renee McCoy, director of the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion's HIV/AIDS Programs. "If we love our youth and genuinely hope their futures are full and prosperous, we can no longer avoid providing effective prevention education and services to them. We must make it a public health priority to facilitate HIV testing for young African Americans and their sex partners. These statistics make this a moral imperative."

HIV trends among injecting drug users are showing significant declines from 9 percent in 2002 to 6 percent in 2006, (71 to 50 cases); and African American, white and Hispanic men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to lead the epidemic in Michigan. Behavior of men having sex with men is still the most common mode of transmission among all HIV infected persons.

These trends will be addressed during the 2008 HIV Prevention Leadership Summit. Information on HIV/AIDS in Michigan can be found on the MDCH Web site at http://www.michigan.gov/hivstd.