COLUMBIA, S.C. — Today is 'World AIDs Day' and here in South Carolina activists and survivors were on hand to acknowledge the day.
In South Carolina during 2018-2019 1,556 people were newly diagnosed with HIV , that is slight lower than numbers for 2016-2017.
According to DHEC, 80% of the new HIV/AIDs cases in the state occur among men, 20% among women.
The majority of new AIDs cases (40%) were among people aged 20-29, 22% were among people aged 30-39, 15% were ages 40-49 and 17% were age 50 and up. Six percent of new cases were under the age of 20.
By race/ethnicity, among people newly diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in S.C., 60 percent were African American; 22 percent were white; six percent were Hispanic. In 2018-2019, African Americans had a case rate 6.5 times greater than whites in S.C
Among men recently diagnosed in S.C., 59% were African American; 23% were white; and seven percent were Hispanic.
Of the 784 men reporting risk, 90% were men who have sex with men, four percent were exposed through heterosexual sex; three percent reported injecting drug use; and three percent were both men who have sex with men and injecting drug users.
As of December 2019, there were 20,334 residents of South Carolina living with a diagnosis of HIV (including AIDS). Of these, 14,599 were men and 5,735 were women. Most people (10,248) were ages 50 and over; 4,116 were ages 40-49; 3,646 were ages 30-39; 2,141 were ages 20-29; and 183 were children and teens under 20 years of age.
The epidemic has killed more than 36 million worldwide, including 700,000 Americans.