Posted on May 19, 2011 by Kristina Navrazhina

Source: CDC, 2004

 

Education Levels in Morningside/Harlem:

The educaiton level of Harlem residents fall below average of those in the United States. A third of all residents has  not graduated high school; many others did not enroll in secondary education. Learning about HIV transfer and prevention is vital in containing the virus from spreading within the community. With that, the focus remains on spreading awareness as early as possible, often starting with young children.

According to the 2000 Census, there are 17,331 young adults, ages 12-19 residing in Harlem/Morningside. (NYC/CDC Survey, 2003). Teenagers in Harlem have particularly high rates of STDs and STIs. In 2003, Chlamydia in teenagers ages 15-19 was 100% higher for males and 85% higher for females compared to their overall NYC counterparts; for gonorrhea, the cases were 140% more prevalent for females and 165% for males. (2003 NYC DOHMH, Bureau of STD Control). Both Chlamydia and gonorrhea are treatable and preventable diseases. They can be treated, and transmission contained. Many, however, do not know they have it. Knowledge of the symptoms and the conditions is vital to contain the infections.

 

Social, Economic and Educational Inequalities and Health Disparities

In anthropology, a community is studied and observed through an ethnographic lens. As such, the health of a community is properly understood only when looked upon in light of the demographics, economics, politics and education as a whole. Health statistics are mere numbers; in order to fully understand what these numbers mean, researchers compare them to the education trends, economic trends, social trends, and political trends of the society. Such is no different from Morningside Heights/Central Harlem. It’s status as an epicenter for HIV/AIDS has much to do with its status as one of the poorest neighborhoods of the country. Families live below poverty levels, students do not finish their education and public health awareness is missing. This paper has showed that there is direct correlation between the neighborhoods’ high dropout rates and transmission of HIV, chiefly due to missing the knowledge the NYC HIV/AIDS curriculum would have otherwise provided. Awareness provided by non-profit public health agencies has proved to be successful in combating the epidemic. Although changes to the community as a whole have both spread the awareness of the disease and decreased the rates of transmission, the community still faces the difficulties of this epidemic.

 

 

 

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