Demographics

     According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, The majority of those living with HIV or AIDS are between the ages of 25 and 64 years of age. There were a total of 41 people in the southwest Missouri region that were diagnosed with HIV or AIDS in 2014. In the southwest Missouri region, there are 459 people who are known to be living with HIV or AIDS. This does not include the number of positive cases diagnosed in the four anonymous testing centers in Missouri. Of the total region of HIV care, 50% of total cases live in Greene country.  

     In the state of Missouri, there are 5,704 known cases of HIV and 6,280 cases of AIDS. HIV is most prevalent between the ages of 19 and 64. As seen by the chart below, there has been a significant increase in new HIV cases by the millennial generation since 2005. Although there are cases of HIV in all races throughout Missouri, in the Kansas City and St. Louis care regions, there is a higher rate of HIV cases among the black/African American population than with any other race. In the St. Louis area, the population is 46.6% white and 47.5% black/African American. However, for this area there are 51 cases of HIV among the white population and 120 cases among the black/African American population. There are more than double the cases of HIV among the black/African American population compared to the white population, despite having similar populations in the St. Louis area. A similar situation is found in the Kansas City area. Despite the fact that the population is 60% white and 30% black/African American, there are more cases of HIV found among the black/African American population (40 cases) than the white population (34 cases). For all other regions of Missouri, the most cases were white, followed by the black/African-American population and then the Hispanic population. There is clearly a racial aspect that needs to be taken into consideration when evaluating HIV statistics for this region, given that African Americans seem to have more HIV cases than the white population.

     Of the 357 cases of newly diagnosed cases in the state of Missouri, all individuals contracted HIV from drug injection, sex between male homosexuals, and heterosexual sex. Of these causes of infection, 75% were from sex between male homosexuals, 17% were from heterosexual sex, 3% were from drug use, and 5% were from male homosexuals who inject drugs. It is clear from these statistics that sexual contact is the main source of transmission of HIV. While the majority of the HIV cases were specifically from male homosexual sex, it is important to note that almost 1 in 5 cases were contracted from heterosexual transmission. While drug use does contribute to the spread of HIV, it is in the minority compared to HIV as a sexually transmitted disease.

     From the above information, we can see that there are defined populations that seem to be more at risk and some activities that are more likely to spread HIV than others. The demographic information and the transmission of HIV in the state of Missouri need to be analyzed and evaluated to determine the best course of action to stop the spread of HIV in our state.