Project RED Inc. Blog

As of 2018 the City of Houston leads the state of Texas with highest HIV infection rate citing 404 cases per 100,000 people and with an estimate population of 2.3 million people living within the city that mean that there are approximately 26, 000 people living with HIV in the city. To some this may seem like a small fraction but with 1 in 7 people living with HIV who may not know that they are infected and 1 in 4 new HIV infections being among youth ages 13-24 this small fraction can make up a large pool of people who are unaware of the risk. The percentage of people living with HIV in the City of Houston as of 2018, by ethnicity is 49.7% African-American, 28.5% Hispanic/Latino, 17.8% White. The percentage of people living with HIV in 2017, by sex is 75.8% male, 24.2% female. As of last year there were at total of 1,133 new infections and 416 deaths due to AIDS related illnesses in the city alone.

To be apart of this campaign is a great honor and being that I am native Houstonian and a person living with HIV to know that I have the support of my city’s health department and leadership means the world to me. Especially when the challenges of having this virus arises. The I Am Life™ campaign is all about empowerment and self-affirmation. It is a reminder of who we are as a community and as people living with HIV. I am Life is more that just an expression it is war cry against the stigma and discrimination that surrounds HIV/AIDS and people living with HIV/AIDS by reminding the world that we are here, we exist, and we matter. More importantly this campaign is about getting the facts about HIV/AIDS out to the people of our city.