Urban Areas Making Progress on Healthy People 2000 Goals; Nation Meets Goal for AIDS, Report Says

Many U.S. cities are generally making progress toward reaching most of HHS' Healthy People 2000 goals, including markers for AIDS and other infectious diseases, according to a report released yesterday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and SUNY Downstate Medical Center. The report used information gathered from the 2000 Census, the CDC and the FBI to determine progress toward goals for several Healthy People 2000 indicators, including AIDS, tuberculosis, syphilis and gonorrhea. Summaries of findings for these health indicators from "Healthy Cities, Healthy Suburbs: Progress in Meeting Healthy People Goals for the Nation's 100 Largest Cities & Their Suburbs" appear below (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation release, 8/6).

• AIDS: Overall, the incidence of AIDS in major U.S. cities decreased by 24% between 1990 and 2000 to 15.4 cases per 100,000 residents, which is "well below" the Healthy People 2000 target of 43 cases per 100,000. However, the overall 2000 rate falls "far" short of the Healthy People 2010 goal of 1 case per 100,000 people. AIDS rates were highest in Northeastern urban areas and lowest in the Midwest. Miami, New York and San Francisco were the only cities that recorded rates above the 2000 goal. However, San Francisco also recorded the largest decrease in AIDS incidence -- 67% -- during the 1990s.
• Tuberculosis: U.S. cities and suburbs experienced "significant" declines in tuberculosis rates from 1990 to 2000. However, those declines were not great enough for most areas to meet the Healthy People 2000 goal of 3.5 cases per 100,000 people. Cities in the Northeast experienced a 55% decline in TB rates on average. Albuquerque, N.M., had the lowest city TB rate in 2000 at 1.6 cases per 100,000 people, while Pittsburgh experienced the greatest decline (75%) in its TB rate during the 1990s.
• Syphilis: Syphilis rates fell 86% on average throughout the decade to 5.6 cases per 100,000 people in 2000, but average rates for the cities still fell short of the Healthy People 2000 goal of 4 cases per 100,000 people. Rates were highest in the South, averaging 9 cases per 100,000 people despite an 86% decrease from 1990 to 2000. Two U.S. cities -- Akron, Ohio, and Cincinnati, Ohio -- reported no new syphilis cases in 2000.
• Gonorrhea: In 2000, gonorrhea rates in the 100 largest U.S. cities averaged 321 cases per 100,000 people, a 54% average decline from 1990. Rates fell from 1990 to 1995 but began rising again in 1996. The Midwest experienced the highest gonorrhea rates on average, while rates were lowest in the West. San Jose, Calif., recorded the lowest rate in 2000 with 27 cases per 100,000 people, and Atlanta recorded the greatest decline (85%) between 1990 and 2000 ("Healthy Cities, Healthy Suburbs: Progress in Meeting Healthy People Goals for the Nation's 100 Largest Cities & Their Suburbs" executive summary, August 2002).