( CNN ) More African-Americans diagnosed with HIV are living . A report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found an 18 % drop in the number of deaths among African-Americans infected with HIV from 2008 to 2012 . That is a consistent and promising decline , and yet it still means 8,165 African-American HIV patients lost their lives in 2012 , a marked disparity that accounts for nearly half of the 17,166 teens and adults with HIV who died in total that year . Most black HIV patients who died were men who contracted the virus through sexual contact with other men . `` We can not drop our guard , '' Dr. Eugene McCray , director of the CDC 's division of HIV/AIDS prevention , said in a statement . `` HIV is still a serious crisis in our communities . Even though we represent only 12 % of the population , more than a third of people living with HIV in the United States are black . And new infections among young , gay black men are increasing at an alarming rate . '' Opinion : Time to close HIV 's racial disparities . While HIV testing is increasing among African-Americans , new infections are still diagnosed less frequently in blacks compared with whites , the CDC said . The agency also said black HIV patients are less likely to be linked to medical care than any other race . McCray said providing that care and treatment could do more than anything else to keep HIV patients alive and prevent new infections . The report comes just two days before National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day , on February 7 , which aims to reduce new infections by encouraging HIV testing . Are we on the road to an HIV vaccine ?
A report on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention covers the years 2010 to 2012 . Though the decline is encouraging , 8,165 African - American HIV patients died in 2012 . The decline began just two days before National Black HIV / AIDS Awareness Day .