By Alabama Public Radio
Tuscaloosa, AL –
The number of AIDS cases in Alabama is still increasing.
State AIDS Director Jane Cheeks says the state averages about 700 new cases every year, but the number of cases has slowed from previous years. Public health statistics show there were more than 71-hundred AIDS cases reported from 1981 through December 2003. Nearly 62-hundred of those cases involve people who are H-I-V positive.
Jefferson County has the largest number of HIV-related cases ... with more than 21 hundred filed in the past 21 years. African American males are the state's most affected demographic group.