We may be closer than ever to "the beginning of the end of the AIDS epidemic," but Phill Wilson, president and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, says it's too early to declare victory just yet.
During a discussion about the evolution of HIV and AIDS in our era of PrEP preventative drugs, Wilson told HuffPost Live's Nancy Redd this week that progress has been much slower within minority communities.
"AIDS is, quite frankly, the epitome of a tale of two cities," Wilson told Redd on Tuesday. "Even today in black and brown communities, among black and brown gay men and among trans women, we still have a raging epidemic where folks are still getting infected, folks are still getting sick, folks are still dying. Most folks don't even know what PrEP is, let alone have access to it."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released statistics in February that highlight the challenge for African-Americans:
Compared to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States, blacks/African Americans account for a disproportionate burden of HIV and AIDS. While blacks represent approximately 12% of the U.S. population, they account for more new HIV infections (44%), people living with HIV (43%), and deaths of persons with diagnosed HIV (48%) than any other racial/ethnic group in the nation. Among blacks, gay and bisexual men, especially young men, are the most affected population—accounting for the majority of new infections.
Wilson told HuffPost Live he doesn't think it's a coincidence that the national conversation about AIDS has grown less and less urgent even as infection rates continue to climb in the black community.
"It seems interesting to me -- as the disease has gotten darker and darker and darker, the interest around HIV and AIDS has gotten less and less and less," he said. "So part of it is the diminishing of black lives that we see in every aspect of our society today, including HIV and AIDS."
Click here to watch the full HuffPost Live conversation about the AIDS epidemic then and now.
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