NYC's HIV Rate 3X That Of Nation

NYC's rate of new HIV infections is three times that of the rest of the country.

Based on a new model for tracking recent infections developed by the Centers for Disease Control, city health officials estimated that 72 out of every 100,000 New Yorkers contracted the virus that causes AIDS in 2006, compared with 23 out of every 100,000 individuals in America. Overall, 4,800 New Yorkers became infected with HIV that year, including 3,863 New York City residents.

According to the department's calculations, 50% of the new infections — about 2,372 cases — occurred among men who had sex with other men, while 8%, or 372, came from intravenous drug use. The vast majority of cases occurred among men, who accounted for 76% of infections in 2006. Nearly half of the new infections, 46%, occurred among black New Yorkers, while those between the ages of 30 and 39 accounted for 29% of the new infections.

The city distributed 38 million free condoms last year and expects to exceed that number in 2008, despite the complaints of people like the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, who says, "When you promiscuously distribute it on the street corners, as if it were a lollipop, you're sending a message, however unwittingly, that this is kind of casual." See how he worked "promiscuous" into a sentence about condom distribution?