But even worse for gay black men with HIV: They were less likely to receive consistent medical care than black women, 35 percent to 44 percent, and receiving consistent HIV care was highest among African Americans whose HIV infections were attributable to heterosexual contact, according to the CDC.
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Meanwhile, a recent CDC report on HIV diagnosis rates has shown encouraging signs of improvements among the African-American population where the spread of the virus is concerned.
Just 38 percent of African Americans got consistent HIV care from 2011-13 compared with about half of whites and Latinos, according to the new research from the CDC.
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, held every year on February 7, is a time to take stock of the progress we’ve made in addressing the burden of HIV among African Americans. New diagnoses decreased 17% from 2012 to 2014; however, HIV test positivity rates remained relatively similar year to year. Because linkage to continuing care and treatment can improve outcomes and interrupt transmission, the CDC researchers wrote that it is crucial to improve engagement with care among blacks, as well as other less-affected ethnic groups. As Hispanics/Latinos, we account for 23% of these new HIV infections and of those, 85% were in men and 15% were in women.
Dr. Jonathan Mermin is director of CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. Their plan is to implement effective HIV prevention strategies, especially for black communities. In 12 jurisdictions with complete laboratory reporting, they evaluated what proportion of people diagnosed with HIV in 2010 were consistently in care during the following 3 years.
Developing new strategies that leverage HIV surveillance data and other information to link and re-engage people in HIV care.
From 2012 to 2014, the CDC funded HIV testing, linkage to care, partner services and behavioral risk reduction programs through 61 state and local health departments and 151 community-based organizations.
There were a total of 74 newly diagnosed cases of HIV and Syphilis in the CSRA past year.
Search: Racial disparities, blacks, retention in care, HIV, CDC.
A new project announced in March that will provide up to $60.5 million over four years from the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Fund (SMAIF), which supports innovative approaches to addressing HIV in minority communities, to help intensify prevention efforts specifically for MSM of color.
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Achieving a more coordinated national response to the epidemic.
