Black AIDS epidemic rages in NYC

The rate of HIV infections among African Americans in New York City is higher than that of several third-world countries, including Nigeria, according to a report issued this week by the nonprofit Black AIDS Institute.

About 3.3% of the city’s black population is infected with the virus, compared with 3.1% of blacks living in Nigeria. In Manhattan alone, one in six African American men between the ages of 40 and 54 are infected.

“People think the AIDS epidemic is over, but it’s not,” said Phill Wilson, chief executive of the nonprofit institute. “We’ve known that African Americans have been disproportionately impacted by AIDS for a while, but what’s distressing is that this trend is continuing.”

The report comes at a time when the state Department of Health is preparing to make the controversial move of shifting HIV/AIDS patients who receive Medicaid into managed care plans. Some nonprofit officials have decried the move because many of the best doctors specializing in AIDS care do not participate in managed care plans.

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