Far too many New Yorkers are being infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.

From New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

New York City remains the epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. More than 100,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV, but thousands don’t know they’re infected. 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. HIV is also the health problem with the largest racial disparity; 80% of new AIDS diagnoses and deaths are among African Americans and Hispanics. Prevention, testing, and treatment programs are being expanded, but more must be done.

Barriers create disparities in access to care

Approximately 1 in 70 New Yorkers is infected with HIV, but the proportion of people in different groups who are infected varies widely:

• 1 in 40 African Americans.  
• 1 in 25 men living in Manhattan.  
• 1 in 12 black men age 40-49 years.  
• 1 in 10 men who have sex with men.  
• 1 in 8 injection drug users.  
• 1 in 5 black men age 40-49 in Manhattan.  
• 1 in 4 men who have sex with men in Chelsea.

The epidemic is increasingly affecting women, who now constitute a third of new AIDS cases – up from 1 in 10 at the start of the epidemic. More than 80% of new AIDS diagnoses and deaths are among African Americans and Hispanics. Black men in New York City are 6 times more likely to die of AIDS than white men; black women are 9 times more likely to die of AIDS than white women. Hispanic men and women are 4 times more likely to die of AIDS than white men and women.

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