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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

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HIV/AIDS and Asian Americans

  • Asian Americans have lower HIV infection rates as compared to their white counterparts, and they are less likely to die of HIV Infection.
  • National surveillance data for HIV infection in Asian subgroups is limited.

HIV Infection Cases (Adults and Children)

Estimated number of diagnosed cases and rates (per 100,000) of HIV infection, 2019

# Cases Rate Asian American/White Ratio
Asian males 635 8.3 0.9
White males 7,498 8.9
 
Asian females 97 1.1 0.6
White females 1,508 1.7
 
Asian (total, all ages) 737 3.9 0.8
White (total, all ages) 9,013 4.6

Source: CDC 2021. HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019, v.32. Tables 1a and 3a.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-report-2018-updated-vol-32.pdf [PDF 20MB]

HIV Infection Cases and Rates (Children <13 years)

Estimated number of diagnosed cases and rates (per 100,000) of HIV infection, 2019

# Cases Rate
Asian 5 0.2
White 7 0.0
Total Population 61 0.1

Source: CDC 2021. HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019, v.32. Table 2a.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-report-2018-updated-vol-32.pdf [PDF 20MB]

HIV Infection Cases (Adults and Children)

Estimated number of cases of HIV infection by year of diagnosis, 2019

# Cases Rate
Asian 737 2.0
White 9,013 24.7
Total Population 36,398

Source: CDC 2021. HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019, v.32. Table 1a.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-report-2018-updated-vol-32.pdf [PDF 20MB]

Estimated number of persons living with HIV infection and rate (per 100,000) by year, 2019

Rate # Cases Percent of Total Cases
Asian 82.3 15,558 1.5
White 153.9 303,701 29.0
Total Population 318.4 1,044,977

Source: CDC 2021. HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019, v.32. Table 16a.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-report-2018-updated-vol-32.pdf [PDF 20MB]

AIDS Cases and Rates (Adults)

Estimated number of cases and rates (per 100,000) of AIDS, 2019

# Cases Rate Asian American/White Ratio
Asian males 230 3.0 0.8
White males 3,190 3.8
 
Asian females 40 0.5 0.6
White females 685 0.8
 
Asian (both sexes) 270 1.7 0.7
White (both sexes) 3,875 2.3

Source: CDC 2021. NCHHSTP Atlas Plus.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/atlas/index.htm [Accessed 06/16/2021]

Estimated number of cases of AIDS by year of diagnosis, 2019

Cumulative # Cases* Percent of Total Cases
Asian 10,634 0.8
White 444,613 34.0
Total Population 1,307,283

Source: CDC 2021. HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019. Slide Set: HIV Infection, Stage 3 (AIDS) 2019. Slide 43.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/slidesets/cdc-hiv-infection-stage-3-2019.pdf [PDF 7MB]

Death Rates

HIV infection death rates per 100,000 population, 2019

Asian Non-Hispanic White Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All ages, Men 1.2 5.0 0.2
All ages, Women 0.1 0.8 0.1
 
Total Population 0.5 2.5 0.2

Source: CDC 2021. HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019, v.32. Table 12a.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-report-2018-updated-vol-32.pdf [PDF 20MB]

AIDS Deaths

Estimated number of deaths, and death rates, of persons with AIDS by year of death, 2019

# Deaths 2019 Rate 2019 Cumulative # Deaths* Asian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Asian 72 0.4 0.5 39.9
White 3,637 2.1 293,444 38.3
Total Population 11,899 4.3 766,380

Source: CDC 2021. NCHHSTP Atlas Plus.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/atlas/index.htm [Accessed 06/16/2021]

Source: CDC 2021. HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019. Slide Set: HIV Infection, Stage 3 (AIDS) 2019. Slide 43.
https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/slidesets/cdc-hiv-infection-stage-3-2019.pdf [PDF 7MB]

HIV Testing

Age-adjusted percent of HIV testing status among persons 18 years of age and over, 2018

Asian Non-Hispanic White Asian/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Ever Tested 39.2 39.9 1.0
Never Tested 60.8 60.1 1.0

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: 2018. Table A-20a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/SHS/tables.htm

* Cumulative data are from the beginning of the epidemic through 2019.

Last Modified: 3/23/2023 4:46:00 PM