Although the number of HIV infections is growing at an alarming rate throughout the Black community, African-American women are the group most disproportionately affected. While representing only 12 percent of the U.S. female population, they account for 61 percent of all new HIV infections among women.

AWARENESS AND OUTREACH—Artistree performs at a National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day event at Central Outreach Center Feb. 27.

“African-American women are 20 times more likely to get infected with HIV than White women,” said Dr. Debbie Hagins, clinical director of outpatient services for the Chatham County Health Department IDC Clinic. “This is in part due to the increased likelihood of being exposed to HIV through heterosexual contact because HIV is so prevalent in communities of color.”

by Marilynn Marchione

SAN ANTONIO (AP)– People at risk of a stroke because of narrowed neck arteries can be safely treated with a less drastic option than the surgery done now, the largest study ever done on these treatments concludes.

If Medicare agrees to cover it, hundreds of thousands of Americans a year might be able to have an artery-opening procedure and a stent instead of surgery to remove built-up plaque, doctors say. A stent is a wire-mesh tube that props the blood vessel open.

by Marilynn Marchione

SAN ANTONIO (AP)—A moment on the lips, forever on the hips? A bad figure is hardly the worst of it. Eating a lot of fat, especially the kind that’s in cookies and pastries, can significantly raise the risk of stroke for women over 50, a large new study finds. We already know that diets rich in fat, particularly artery-clogging trans fat, are bad for the heart and the waistline.

A computer image mapping parts of the brain.

The new study is the largest to look at stroke risk in women and across all types of fat. It showed a clear trend: Those who ate the most fat had a 44 percent higher risk of the most common type of stroke compared to those who ate the least.

by Cora Christian

(NNPA)—January 1 brought more than the New Year. It also brought a new law making it easier for low-income beneficiaries to qualify for Medicare’s Extra Help program. The program offers significant savings on prescription drugs to enrollees in Medicare Part D.

Grammy Award winning legend Chubby Checker is helping the government to get the word out. An ad campaign features the veteran singer in several radio and television spots singing and dancing to “The Twist.” With the chart-topping hit as a backdrop, Checker tells older Americans and people with disabilities about the new twist in the law—the extra help they might be eligible to receive when they apply.