From Their Perspectives

Sharon Lund, PhD, presents From Their Perspectives . . . East African-born Men Living with HIV/AIDS in Minnesota. The number of new HIV infections diagnosed among African-born persons in Minnesota has steadily increased since the mid-1990s. African-born persons make up less that 1% of the Minnesota population, yet they accounted for 11% of new HIV infections in 2009. Currently, there are 374 confirmed cases of African-born HIV seropositive males living in Minnesota. This presentation will describe how East African-born men in the Twin Cities metro area are living with HIV/AIDS through in-depth, face-to-face personal interviews with a sample of East African-born HIV seropositive men and others who interact and know this community. The purpose of this study is to understand the risk factors, sexual behaviors, and context of HIV transmission among East African-born HIV seropositive men living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in order to design and tailor effective evidence-based HIV prevention intervention programs and services for this population.