"AIDS - The Leading Killer Amongst Young Adults"

"AIDS - The Leading Killer Amongst Young Adults"

The Nubian Message, North Carolina State University's African American student newspaper, was first published on November 30, 1992. In this March 9, 1995 article, Health Editor Tawana Myles covered recent scientific studies of AIDS in the United States. Citing research conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Myles reported that in 1993, HIV was the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 44 in 79 cities nationwide, including Raleigh, NC. The fact that HIV/AIDS affected so many young people of reproductive age in turn affected society in broader ways, not least of which is that individuals who suffer from HIV/AIDS may not have healthy children.

Myles' update on new AIDS research is characteristic of The Nubian Message's robust coverage of the disease, which disproportionally affects African-American males. It is also an example of the paper's willingness to cover sensitive health issues, from sexually transmitted diseases to testicular cancer (covered in an adjacent article in this issue).

Tawana Myles, Health Editor

Tawana Myles, "AIDS - The Leading Killer Amongst Young Adults," The Nubian Message 3, no. 12 (March 9, 1995): 9. Digitized by the Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.

1995-03-09

Rose Buchanan

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AIDS - The Leading Killer Amongst Young Adults

By Tawana Myles

Aids [sic] has surpassed accidents as the leading killer of young adults today, experts say. Recent figures show that in 1993, HIV became the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. Dr. Harold Jaffe, of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, informed researchers at an AIDS meeting sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology that HIV has infected more that [sic] 441,000 Americans since 1981, and over 250,000 have died from the disease.

Jaffe also reported that AIDS was now the leading killer of young adults in about 79 cities including places such as Springfield, Ill.; Omaha, Nebraska; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Raleigh, N.C. and that "because AIDS is predominantly a disease of young adults, the impact of AIDS deaths on our society goes far beyond their absolute numbers."

Studies show that the impact of AIDS is greatest in large cities such as New York, Miami, and Atlanta. Places such as these account for one to two-thirds of AIDS related deaths among young men. Thus it has become a major health problem among people in smaller communities as well. Researchers usually overlook these places, making information about the spread of the disease inaccurate.

The Center for Disease Control is now receiving over 20,000 new AIDS cases every three months. Interestingly enough, Jaffe has observed how AIDS is spreading according to geographic locations. In the South, most cases of AIDS occur in gay men. However in the Northeast, AIDS is continuing to spread amongst intravenous drug users, while it has stabilized in gay men. AIDS in the northeast is spreading gradually amongst heterosexuals. In the West, incidents among gay men are slowly decreasing.

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