WARNING: LIVING MAY RESULT IN DEATH

I don't think that adolescent population is fooling around with older more experienced people. I do think that adolescent population is having unprotected sex which would put them at risk to contact the disease at a much more alarming rate. Also there is a rise in young homosexuals in the NYC area and research suggests that because of the way that the diseased is contracted that that population is more at risk. Don't forget about the children who were born with HIV are now old enough to have sex now, and yes that's right most of those children are in the urban impoverished community who contracted it from drug user parents.

The City should mail free condoms to every household each month, to get people thinking, if nothing else.

Well, according to Obama's pastor, it's the government who is deliberately spreading Aids in order to kill black people. No doubt Obama's first act as president will be to stop government agents from going around infecting these people.

That's true. In many cases is just carelessness or just being reckless.

Shinobi, I really find it hard to believe that people are uninformed about AIDS and various other STDs living in NYC in 2008.

I don't see why people are surprised by this. I would expect NYC to have 3x the national average of people at a higher risk of exposure --- so we expect to have 3x the national avg rate of HIV positive.

We also have more billionaires; thinnner, better looking people and more freakin' starbucks than any national avg. This ain't Kansas.

This is clearly a lack of information on these people's part, people have to get informed about HIV (not AIDS, since that is not a 'disease,' rather a terminology for a *collection* of diseases).

Get informed and survive.

Agreed, lanciano, unfortunately safer sex practices are always going to be counter-intuitive even if they could mean preventing a chronic illness... and that's true for all of us across the racial and economic spectrum.

sad and scary stuff to read.

"And whats worse is that who could blame them? Their choices are die from AIDS, homicide, drugs or poverty."

how strange, I know of a few African Americans who have actually died of OLD AGE.

"...where do American's think they're going to get the money to keep themselves on pharmaceutical life support for the rest of their life?"

I'm not saying it's logical. This thinking is along the same lines as: "if i get pregnant, i'll just get an abortion." Obviously those girls/women aren't thinking, "but how am I going to pay for and arrange an abortion?" In both cases, they just want to get out of making what can be an awkward, difficult decision: A. wearing a condom B. making someone wear a condom or C. just saying a big fat NO!

They're simply just putting today's nuisance off until tomorrow when it morphs into becoming a MUCH BIGGER NIGHTMARE.

I've been to other places in this country, believe me there's no sex happening there. I would say 40% less.

Not much of a surprise when you realize urban black males are contracting HIV faster than other demographics.

And whats worse is that who could blame them? Their choices are die from AIDS, homicide, drugs or poverty.

We keep wasting our time and money fighting the disease (thanks for all the help Gates Foundation; where are your results?) and not the cause: IGNORANCE.

I bet people are being more careless because they think they'll just take the drugs.

That might explain unprotected sex in Stockholm but where do American's think they're going to get the money to keep themselves on pharmaceutical life support for the rest of their life?

Call me naive, but how does the HIV rate go up 30% for high schoolers? Are they having that many partners or are they screwing around with older, more experienced folks. It's really disturbing.

Thanks to all the medical advances that allow people to live with HIV and AIDS for much longer, people aren't as scared of AIDS as they were in the 80s. I bet people are being more careless because they think they'll just take the drugs. No big deal. Terrible.

Well I am shocked to hear this.