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

Dear Colleague,

October 15 is National Latinx* AIDS Awareness Day, sponsored by the Latino Commission on AIDS. On this day, and every day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with its partners to ensure that Hispanics/Latinos have the knowledge and tools they need to prevent HIV, get tested, and get treatment if they are living with HIV. This year’s theme, Ending HIV is Everyone’s Job, reminds us that everyone has an important role to play in preventing new HIV infections and encourages Hispanics/Latinos to take action to protect themselves and their partners.

HIV diagnoses have remained stable in recent years among Hispanics/Latinos overall, and diagnoses are falling among Hispanic/Latina women. However, HIV diagnoses among Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men increased 13%, including a 19% increase among young Hispanic/Latino gay and bisexual men aged 13 to 24. In 2016, more than 10,000 Hispanics/Latinos received an HIV diagnosis, representing 26% of the 40,324 new HIV diagnoses in the United States and 6 dependent areas.

More than 250,000 Hispanics/Latinos are living with HIV, and only half (50%) have achieved viral suppression. According to a recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, some Hispanics/Latinos in HIV medical care face socioeconomic and language-related challenges that pose barriers to staying in care and reaching viral suppression. People with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and have an undetectable viral load can stay healthy and have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to HIV-negative partners. Promoting access to comprehensive medical and supportive services for those in HIV care can help us end new HIV infections.

CDC is committed to preventing new HIV infections among Hispanics/Latinos and improving the health and well-being of those with HIV. Some of CDC’s activities include:

• Funding for state and local health departments to conduct HIV surveillance and prevention programs across the United States, as well as interventions that reach those populations most affected by HIV, including Hispanics/Latinos.
• Funding biomedical approaches to HIV prevention such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and antiretroviral therapy (ART) to protect the health of people with HIV and prevent transmission.
• Providing Hispanics/Latinos with HIV prevention and treatment messages through Act Against AIDS. For example, Let’s Stop HIV Together(Detengamos Juntos el VIH) raises awareness about HIV and fights stigma; Doing It (Lo Estoy Haciendo / La Prueba del VIH) encourages all adults to get tested for HIV and know their status; HIV Treatment Works (El Tratamiento del VIH es Efectivo) shows how people living with HIV have overcome barriers to stay in care and provides resources on how to live well with HIV; and Start Talking. Stop HIV. (Inicia la Conversación. Detén el VIH.) helps gay and bisexual men communicate about safer sex, testing, and other HIV prevention issues.

Together we can protect the health of Hispanic/Latino communities. As a partner in HIV prevention, you play an essential role in this effort, and we look forward to continuing our strong collaboration to achieve a future free of new HIV infections.

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
Rear Admiral 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.