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Yes, it’s 2016 – nearly 35 years since the first cases of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. But, the sexually transmitted disease is just as dangerous today as it was years ago.

More than 37 million people were living with HIV by the end of 2014, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). And since the early 1980s, about 39 million people have died from infection across the world.

Here are some things to keep in mind about the disease:

Who is more at risk?

Black men just can’t catch a break. According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated 1 in 20 Black men will contract HIV in their lifetime. That’s compared to 1 in 132 white men.

Black people have to be careful in general, though. We are the most at risk to catch HIV than any other racial group.

The Dirty South

Sorry, southerners. You are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than anyone else in the U.S., the CDC reports. Poverty and lack of access to healthcare are a couple of the reasons why this is so.

Washington D.C. ranks the highest on the prevalence list, followed by Maryland, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana.

5 Things Every African American Should Know About HIV/AIDS In 2016  was originally published on blackdoctor.org

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