HIV and AIDS have long had a disproportionate impact on the Black community. In recognition of that stark reality, the U.S. government marked February 7 as National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
Cheddar News anchor Shannon LaNier spoke with Jessica Shepherd, the chief medical officer at Verywell, a health information website, about the disease's continued impact on Black people, who she said are eight times more likely to be diagnosed than white people.
The challenge in addressing this inequality is stigma, which has historically discouraged people from seeking care.
Shepherd explained that better health care options have helped lift some of that stigma, but it remains an issue for certain disadvantaged groups.
Overcoming the disease's connection with sexual intercourse is another way to help people become more open about the disease and seek the proper care, she added.
"When you think of something that's sexually transmitted, even though you do have [intravenous drug] transmission, you think of something that is bad," she said. "So the person gets a bad label no matter how they acquire the disease."
Better health care in general has helped combat this perception, as HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence but rather something people can live with. "You see people well into their sixth or seventh decade having HIV and living very healthy lives," she said.
Volunteers worked frantically on a second day Wednesday to save dozens of pilot whales that have stranded themselves on a beach in Western Australia, but more than 50 have already died.
The water temperature on the tip of Florida hit hot tub levels, exceeding 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius) two days in a row. And meteorologists say that could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured, although there are some issues with the reading.
A teenage boy who has been blind for most of his life has been cured due to new gene therapy treatments.
A gorilla thought to be a male gave birth at a zoo in Ohio.
A new study showed a depression diagnosis during adulthood could more than double the risk of getting dementia later in life.
A teen in Cuba who's been legally blind can now see again thanks to new gene therapy treatments.
Plastic-Free July is being observed to highlight the use of plastic and its effects. Cheddar News' Michelle Castillo gave up using single-use plastic for the day and spoke with Kathyrn Kellogg, founder of Going Zero Waste, to get her take.
Be Well: How to Use Your Own Body Weight to Build Strength
Cheddar News checks in with a coast-to-coast forecast of the weather for Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Wildfires burning in Canada continue to bring smoke south into the U.S with air quality alerts in effect across the Midwest and upper Great Lakes.
