Awareness campaigns by various organizations draw attention to the prevalence of autism, estimated by the year 2012 as 1 in 68 individuals (1 in 42 males, 1 in 189 females) by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).[11] This figure has risen from the estimated 1 in 150 in the year 2000. The prevalence statistic is used to describe the scope and size of the problem, and the increase over time is used to frame the issue as urgent. Some organizations and individuals even call it the autism epidemic.[12] Awareness campaigns educate people not only about the prevalence of autism but also how it is characterized.