PROFILE OF THE EPIDEMIC

DC has the highest rate of new AIDS cases per 100,000 population in the United States -- a rate that is 10 times the national average.

It's estimated that one in every 20 adults in the District of Columbia is infected with HIV. Up to one-third of them do not know they are HIV-positive.

In DC, the greatest increase in AIDS cases is occurring among people of color, women, injection drug users and through heterosexual contact.

In DC, new AIDS cases among women occur at 10 times the national average.

In DC, 79 percent of all AIDS cases are among African Americans.

More than 11,000 people in the Washington metropolitan area live with AIDS. Tens of thousands more people are estimated to be infected with HIV.

Nationwide, someone under the age of 25 is infected with HIV every 30 minutes.

It's estimated that as many as 25-30 percent of those who are infected are unaware that they are HIV-positive.

Statistics provided by the WHITMAN-WALKER CLINIC