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The US National HIV Surveillance
System reported that HIV-infected people younger than 45 were much less likely
than older HIV-infected people to know about their infection or to receive HIV
treatment. Early diagnosis and ongoing antiretroviral therapy (ART) are
essential to promoting the health of HIV-infected people and preventing the
virus’s transmission.
The study indicated that more than
200,000 of the more than 1.1 million HIV-infected Americans did not know they
had the virus, and diagnosis and linkage to care varied widely among age
groups. Approximately 40 percent of HIV-infected people ages 13–24 knew their
HIV status, and only 30 percent were receiving treatment. People ages 25–44
were less likely to take ART and to have a suppressed viral load (28 percent)
than people ages 55–64 (46 percent).
Study authors reported they were
shocked to learn that most HIV-infected Americans (more than 850,000) had not
been successful in suppressing the virus through ART. Seventy-five percent of
HIV-infected men, 79 percent of blacks, 74 percent of Hispanics, and 70 percent
of whites also had not achieved the viral suppression treatment goal. Dr. Katerina
Christopoulos and Dr. Diane Havlir, of the University of California, San
Francisco, who were invited to comment on the study, urged collaboration
between the HIV treatment and prevention movements to develop interventions
that would increase HIV testing, linkage to care, and adherence to treatment.
The full report, “Differences in
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Care and Treatment Among Subpopulations in the
United States,” was published online in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine
(2013; doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.6841).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus.
To learn more about The Friends of
AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
