HIV/AIDS among African Immigrants in the US: Challenges and Implications for Moving Forward

This paper is an examination of HIV/AIDS among African Immigrants, and recommendations for moving forward. We conducted an extensive systematic assessment of the literature on HIV/AIDS on African immigrants in the US from Medline, InfoPsyche, Social Science citations, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases. Additionally, findings were juxtaposed with literature and policy implications for African immigrants in England and Europe. Our findings bring to light six salient areas/challenges regarding African immigrants' HIV/AIDS-related health in the United States: 1) Lack of data specific to African Immigrants HIV prevalence rates; 2) Immigration status (Refugees versus Illegal Immigrants); (3) Naivety about the US Health Care System; 3) HIV-related Stigma; 4) Diversity of the African Immigrant Population; 5) Low Socio-economic status; and 6) Acculturation and Assimilation into the US population. Our finding foregrounds the importance of reviewing the current US Census racial/ethnic categories to better reflect the differences among “Blacks” because of the bourgeoning African immigrants population. It also shows the implications for HIV/AIDS policies and programs geared towards “Blacks” which usually does not account for the heterogeneity in the population. We recommend additional studies focusing on the African Immigrant population in the context of HIV/AIDS in the US, and the need to address this with the recognizance of the cultural diversity in the group.