The disease AIDS was first reported in the United States 20 years ago. By the end of last year, more than 774,000 Americans had AIDS. More than 448,000 Americans had died from the disease.
Recently, American health officials released new information on the problem of AIDS in the United States. Their reports suggest that the number of Americans infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has remained the same in the past few years. The health officials warned of a possible increase in the number of infections unless more is done to prevent the spread of AIDS.
Officials with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the findings. The CDC officials said the number of AIDS cases and deaths dropped sharply during the Nineteen-Nineties. But they said both numbers have changed little since 1998. The CDC said about 40,000 people became newly infected with HIV in each of the past two years. In each of those years, about 16,000 Americans died from AIDS infections.
Helene Gayle is the director for AIDS prevention with the CDC. Dr. Gayle proposed steps to reduce the number of AIDS infections and deaths. They include expanding testing for the AIDS virus, improving medical care for patients and finding new treatments for patients in whom the virus becomes resistant to medicines.
Evidence from several American cities suggests that AIDS remains a serious problem among some groups. One study was done in Seattle, Washington. It studied men who had sexual relations with men. It found that the rate of unprotected sex among the homosexual men increased between 1994 and 2000. American experts strongly suggest the use of condoms to protect against the spread of AIDS. The same study found that the number of homosexual men who had six or more sex partners in the past year has increased.
Another study examined mostly poor black women in Atlanta, Georgia. That study found that 60 percent of the women did not know if their sex partner was infected with the AIDS virus. It also found that almost half the women questioned said their partner had not worn a condom.