Statistics on HIV/AIDS, STDs and Unintended Pregnancy

Hispanic youth are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unintended pregnancy. Race and ethnicity are not risk factors but are risk markers that correlate with fundamental determinants of health such as poverty and limited access to quality health care.

HIV/AIDS

National Statistics

• AIDS incidence rates are twice as high among Hispanics than among Caucasians; 19 percent of AIDS cases reported to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been Hispanic.
• Hispanic adolescents between 13 - 19 accounted for 775 AIDS cases (20 percent) as reported through June 2000.

Illinois Statistics

• As of December 2001, Hispanics, who represent about 11 percent of Illinois' population (taken from the 1999 U.S. Estimates of State Population), accounted for 12 percent of new reported cases of HIV/AIDS.
• As of December 2001, Hispanics accounted for 16 percent of reported AIDS cases in Illinois adolescents ages 13 to 19.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)

National Statistics

• Among sexually active women, rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection are highest among adolescents.
• In 2000, national data show Hispanics had higher rates for these STDs:
• Gonorrhea infection rate was three times higher than in non-Hispanic whites.
• Primary and secondary syphilis infection rate was three times higher than in non-Hispanic whites.

Illinois Statistics

In 2000, Hispanics accounted for the following numbers of STDs in adolescents ages 10 to 19:

• Chlamydia: 868 cases, or 6 percent of all infections
• Gonorrhea: 96 cases, or 2 percent of all infections
• Syphilis: five cases, or 8 percent of all infections

Unintended Pregnancy

National Statistics

• In 1998, the Hispanic teen birth rate reached 93.7 per 1,000 women – the highest in the nation and more than double the Caucasian teen birth rate of 45.4 births per 1,000 women.
• Hispanics accounted for 18 percent of all teen births in 1995.

Illinois Statistics

Illinois has the 10th highest annual rate of Hispanic teen pregnancies; each year 114.6 births per 1,000 Illinois teens occur among Hispanics ages 15 to 19.