By AP
Oklahoma City, OK – Okla. Health Dept. targets blacks for AIDS effort
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma State Department of Health is targeting the African-American community for AIDS testing and awareness.
According to the Health Department, African Americans have the highest rate of new HIV/AIDS cases in the state, with a rate nearly five times higher than for other racial or ethnic groups. Of the nearly 5,000 Oklahomans with HIV/AIDS, nearly 1,200 are African Americans.
Jan Fox is chief of the Health Department's HIV and Sexually Transmitted Disease Service. Fox calls the figures a "troubling disparity."
The department is observing National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Feb. 7 and is encouraging people to get tested and seek treatment. Free, confidential screenings are scheduled in Tulsa that day, and the agency is touting testing sites across the state.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.