An analysis carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that despite the 5% decline in the rate of HIV diagnoses among blacks, their numbers are still 8.4% higher than the whites'.

The statistic was carried between 2001 and 2004. During that period, a total of 157.252 being diagnosed with HIV, and, for the first time ever, this national total included data from New York State, thus providing a more representative picture of the U.S. epidemic.

New York State's HIV cases account for over 20 percent of all new diagnoses reported during 2001-2004.

One of the conclusions is that the impact of HIV remained greatest among gay and bisexual men.

Among males, the majority of diagnoses occurred among men who have sex with men (MSM). However, the proportion of HIV diagnoses attributed to heterosexual exposure varied considerably by race, from a low of 6 percent among whites to a high of 25 percent among blacks.

It is therefore essential that HIV/AIDS prevention programs for minority men address multiple routes of exposure.

Among females, the majority of HIV diagnoses, regardless of race, occurred through heterosexual exposure.