The Red Tie Project: HIV/AIDS Awareness for Men

I did some work for a client in Cincinnati that focused on the issue of HIV/AIDS Awareness for women earlier this year. We created an HIV/AIDS Awareness groupsite to share information about this deadly disease via cyberspace.

In March 2009, our blog became part of The Red Pump Project to help bring awareness to the impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that our blog would like to welcome all villagers to The Red Tie Project. We will join with Luvvie, Karyn and any other progressive bloggers interested in being a resource for local and national news and discussions related to HIV/AIDS from a male perspective. If you would like to get more information or become involved, you can email theredtieproject@gmail.com.

Key Snapshot of the U.S. Epidemic Today

• Number of new HIV infections, 2006: 56,300
  
• Number of people living with HIV/AIDS: 1.1 million, including more than 468,000 with AIDS
  
• Number of AIDS deaths since beginning of epidemic: 583,298, including 14,561 in 2007
  
• Percent of people infected with HIV who don’t know it: 21%

Key Statistics Regarding Men and HIV/AIDS

• In 2006, men accounted for 73% of new HIV diagnoses, with 53% of cases coming from gay and bisexual men


• While 67% of new male diagnosis were the result of male-to-male sexual contact, 16% of new male cases came from high-risk heterosexual contact.


• Between 2001 and 2006, among males between the ages of 13 and 24, there was annual increase of 12.4 percent, compared to 1.5 percent for men overall


• From 2004-2007, there was a 26% increase in HIV diagnosis amongst men who have sex with men, and a 9% increase among heterosexual males

Please feel free to share information about The Red Tie Project with others. You can follow The Red Tie Project on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook!

Please share your thoughts about this online project with us in the COMMENTS (or 'Village Voices') section below.