Hawkins on Health Care Access and HIV Rates Among Gay Black Men: The Conversation

Communications Studies Assistant Professor Deion Hawkins writes for the academic news site The Conversation about that skyrocketing HIV rates among gay Black men.

Hawkins writes that many people living with HIV in the United States have seen a drastic improvement in their lives in the last 20 years. But some communities, such as gay Black men, have not experienced the same level of improvement.

Hawkins reports that “Black queer men are six times more likely to die as a result of HIV-related complications when compared with queer men of different races.”

The prevalence of HIV in the Black queer community has been well documented in academic research, including my own, which demonstrates that when patients’ treatment plans include access to health care and other social services, the patients stay healthy longer.

To read the full piece, please visit The Conversation.