HIV/AIDS
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. The HIV virus weakens the body's immune system making it hard for the body to defend itself against a host of other diseases that in healthier circumstances your body could fight off with ease. As time goes on the immune system begins to shut down almost completely.
StatisticsIn women, 1 in 4 will be affected by the HIV/AIDS disease. Out of the 1 in 4, 2 in 3 of these women are African American women. But why? African American women are more likely to be affected by:
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African American women account for 64 percent of those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 2009. These women have a 15 percent higher rate of contracting the disease than do white women. The vast majority of women with the disease contracted it through heterosexual intercourse.
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