HIV/AIDS in
Tacoma/Pierce County
The epidemic is not
over yet!
A Fact Sheet
According
to Health Department statistics, 950 cases of AIDS have been reported in Pierce
County and 513 persons are known to have died from complications related to AIDS
as of April 30, 2003. Since the Health Department began collecting information
about people living with HIV, an additional 287 cases of HIV have been reported. Pierce County has the second highest incidence of AIDS in the
State, with 8.9% of the total number of cases in Washington.
But
AIDS in Pierce County is distinguished from the state as a whole by a clientele
that is poorer, has a lower average educational level and contains a higher
percentage of women, people of color, injection drug users, teenagers, and
children. A comparison of
statistics provided by the Tacoma/ Pierce County Health Department and the State
Department of Health finds: • 34% of the cases of AIDS in Pierce County are among people of color. That figure is only 19% for the state as a whole. •
19% of the people with
AIDS in Pierce County report injecting
drug use as the mode of transmission of HIV as opposed to only 9% statewide. 12%
of the people with AIDS in Pierce County report heterosexual sex as the mode of
transmission of HIV as opposed to only 6% statewide. • 17% percent
of all Pierce County AIDS cases are women, a number more than twice the
statewide percentage (8%) of AIDS cases among women. • Teens are
more at risk for HIV in Pierce County. 22% of the cases of AIDS are among
young people 20-29 years of age. That figure is only 17% for the state. • Of the 32
cases of pediatric AIDS (children under 13 years of age) diagnosed in
Washington State, 9 cases, 28%, have been from Pierce County.
Recent
statistics show these trends in the AIDS epidemic in Pierce County even more
strongly than the cumulative cases. Among the 451 clients served at the Pierce
County AIDS Foundation in 2002, 73 were new clients.
Of these, 44% are people of color, and 18% are women. Of the 451
clients served in 2002, 41% had mental health issues, 15% had substance abuse
problems, 35% had both mental health issues and substance abuse problems and 76%
had incomes of less than $10,000 per year.
14% of new clients served were homeless at intake.
During
2002, the Pierce County AIDS Foundation enrolled 73 new clients. This is a Updated July 2003 |
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