“My name is Ofelia and I am HIV positive.” Ofelia, 55, a resident of San Leandro started our conversation with a smile.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the HIV epidemic is a serious and growing threat to the Latino community. While Latinos represented approximately 15% of the United States (US) population in 2006, they accounted for 17% of new HIV infections in the nation during that same year. The rate of new HIV infections among Latinos in 2006 was 2.5 times that of whites.