HIV & AIDS in the United States Update: Dear Colleague letter

Dear Colleague,

On October 15, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will join our partners in observing National Latinx* AIDS Awareness Day, sponsored by the Latino Commission on AIDS. This year’s theme, It takes a team of superheroes to defeat HIV, encourages partners across the nation to work together with determination and strength to prevent HIV among Hispanics/Latinos and to help those living with HIV stay healthy.

HIV continues to be a serious health threat to the Hispanic/Latino community. Though HIV diagnoses among Hispanic/Latina women declined 16% from 2010 to 2014, diagnoses increased 2% among all Hispanics/Latinos, driven by a 13% increase among Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men. By the end of 2014, an estimated 235,600 Hispanics/Latinos were living with HIV in the United States. Among Hispanics/Latinos who had received an HIV diagnosis, 70% had received care and 58% were virally suppressed.

A recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), “HIV Care Outcomes Among Hispanics/Latinos with Diagnosed HIV—United States, 2015,” suggests that targeted strategies might be needed for different subgroups to achieve improvements in linkage to care, retention in care, and viral suppression among Hispanics/Latinos. CDC encourages public and private stakeholders to strengthen interventions that can improve care outcomes for Hispanics/Latinos living with HIV. In addition, partners such as health departments, community-based organizations (CBOs), and others can extend the reach of their HIV prevention and testing services that focus on Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men. More of these services can help address the increase in HIV infections among this population. Learn more about how CDC can support your prevention programs.

CDC is committed to reducing new HIV infections among the Hispanic/Latinos and improving the health and well-being of those who are living with HIV. For example:

• Under the current cooperative agreement (PS12-1201), CDC awarded health departments at least $330 million each year for directing resources to populations, including Hispanics/Latinos, and geographic areas of greatest need.
• In 2017, CDC awarded nearly $11 million per year for 5 years to 30 CBOs to provide HIV testing and other prevention strategies to young gay and bisexual men of color and transgender youth of color.
• Under the Capacity Building Assistance for High-Impact HIV Preventionprogram, a national program that addresses gaps in the HIV continuum of care, CDC is providing training and technical assistance for health departments and other organizations.
• CDC is working to increase the availability, access, and uptake of biomedical approaches to HIV prevention such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).
• Under Act Against AIDS, an initiative that raises awareness about HIV prevention through campaigns and partnerships, CDC is disseminating campaigns and engaging in partnership activities that include Hispanics/Latinos. For example,
• Let’s Stop HIV Together is a campaign that raises awareness about HIV and its impact on the lives of all Americans, and fights stigma by showing that persons living with HIV are real people.
• Doing It, a national bilingual testing and prevention campaign, encourages all adults to know their HIV status and make HIV testing a part of their regular health routine.
• HIV Treatment Works shows how people living with HIV have overcome barriers to stay in care and provides resources on how to live well with HIV.
• Start Talking. Stop HIV. helps gay and bisexual men communicate about safer sex, testing, and other HIV prevention issues.
• Partnering and Communicating Together (PACT) to Act Against AIDSis a partnership with organizations such as the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Hispanic Medical Association to raise HIV awareness among populations disproportionately affected by HIV, including Hispanic/Latino communities.

Thank you for working with us to implement powerful prevention strategies that give Hispanics/Latinos the tools to defeat HIV. We look forward to continuing this collaboration and making greater progress in reducing HIV infections, improving health outcomes, and reducing health disparities in HIV care among all Hispanics/Latinos.

Sincerely,

/Eugene McCray
Eugene McCray, MD
Director
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/hiv

/Jonathan Mermin/
Jonathan H. Mermin, MD, MPH
RADM and Assistant Surgeon General, USPHS
Director
National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention www.cdc.gov/nchhstp

 * The term Latinx serves as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino/Latina.