AIDS in the Circle City
Race
In the United States as a whole, the rate for white, not Hispanic, people was 193. Compare this to the state of Indiana where the rate among white men is only 96. Bearing in mind that white people comprise about 88% of the state, it is not surprising that this rate would be so low.[1] The Marion County rate is higher than the national average, but not by much. Its population is also made up of a majority of white people, approximately 71%.[2] The rates for black, not Hispanic, people are significantly higher than the rates for the white people. Even in Indiana, with its relatively small black population, shows a great jump in the AIDS rate from white to black.
Cumulative AIDS Rates* With Respect To Race
|
|
National (US) |
State (Indiana) |
County (Marion) |
|
White, not Hispanic |
193 |
96 |
248 |
|
Black, not Hispanic |
1117 |
423 |
506 |
|
Hispanic |
502 |
136 |
207 |
*Rate = cumulative AIDS cases/population x 100,000
The longer I poured over the data, the more interested I became. Why are the numbers so much higher for certain zip codes? Where are these places?
Looking at a map, I noticed that the places with the highest concentration of AIDS cases were also the places with the highest concentration of African Americans in the county. (highlighted in the table below)
|
Zip Code |
Tot. Pop |
White Pop |
AA Pop |
AIDS Cases |
Rate |
|
46201 |
39,156 |
29151 |
7812 |
462 |
1180 |
|
46202 |
14,997 |
6895 |
7560 |
526 |
3510 |
|
46203 |
40,433 |
34950 |
4292 |
201 |
500 |
|
46204 |
6,636 |
3095 |
3393 |
156 |
2350 |
|
46205 |
29,701 |
8123 |
21413 |
469 |
1580 |
|
46208 |
25,531 |
7767 |
17602 |
359 |
1410 |
|
46218 |
34,607 |
8433 |
25834 |
257 |
740 |
|
46219 |
36,501 |
31531 |
4438 |
180 |
490 |
|
46220 |
35,264 |
31135 |
3435 |
165 |
470 |
|
46222 |
36,364 |
20106 |
14394 |
269 |
740 |
|
46224 |
35,166 |
24113 |
8489 |
179 |
510 |
|
46226 |
44,865 |
20068 |
23779 |
194 |
430 |
|
46227 |
52,818 |
49934 |
1529 |
149 |
280 |
|
46241 |
29,944 |
27995 |
1338 |
116 |
390 |
|
46254 |
34,845 |
16981 |
17894 |
166 |
480 |
|
46260 |
31,502 |
20993 |
9018 |
140 |
440 |
Of the 16 zip codes in Marion County (of a total of 51) which had at least 100 cumulative AIDS cases, eight had an African American population which made up at least 50% of the total population of the zip code. As only 9% of the people in my zip code (46250) identify as African American, I do not have much contact with this group of people; and therefore, I don’t really have much of an idea of how it affects the African American community.
