A Brief Look at Americans' Perceptions of the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic

This Data Note, using data from a national survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS released in June 2011, examines trends in the public’s perception of HIV/AIDS as a global problem. Overall, survey trends show that Americans view HIV/AIDS as a more pressing health problem for the world than for the U.S., although the perceived sense of urgency has been on the decline for both the global and domestic epidemics. The sense of urgency about the global HIV/AIDS epidemic has declined steeply in the past five years; about one third of Americans ranked it as the world’s most urgent health issue from 2000 through 2006, a share that fell to 21 percent in 2009 and 13 percent today.

The survey report, released in the 30th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and topline are also available.

Data Note (.pdf)