Fifteen years ago, the nation observed the first annual National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD). Since then, we’ve seen significant progress in the national and global response to HIV. This progress holds great promise for reducing new HIV infections and improving health outcomes for Latinos and all people living with HIV across the United States.
But Hispanics/Latinos continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Although they make up only 18 percent of the population, they account for nearly 23 percent of the estimated 1.1 million people in the U.S. who are living with HIV. As is the case across all U.S. racial/ethnic groups, the majority are men who have sex with men (MSM).
Between 2011-2015, CDC data indicate a 13.9 percent increase in new HIV diagnoses among Hispanic/Latino MSM living in the U.S. (When the six dependent territories were included in the data, the overall increase was slightly lower, at 13.4 percent.) We are particularly concerned that those increases were concentrated among young Latino MSM between the ages of 13-34.
In response, we are focusing on approaches to HIV prevention that show strong scientific evidence of success. For example, we’ve known for a long time that people living with HIV who know their status, take HIV medication daily as prescribed, and get and keep an undetectable viral load can live long and healthy lives. Now we also know that these individuals have effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative partners. Many people call this “treatment as prevention” or “TasP,” and it’s one of the most exciting developments for our response to HIV since the widespread introduction of antiretroviral therapy in 1996.