In 2011, 15,056 District residents, or 2.4 percent of the entire population, were living with HIV or AIDS and 718 new cases of HIV were reported, an improvement in a city that has historically been ranked as having the highest prevalence of the disease in the nation, according to an annual report released by the mayor’s office today.
Some highlights from the 2012 District of Columbia HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and TB Epidemiology Annual Report:
- The reported found the number of newly diagnosed HIV decreased from 1,333 new cases in 2007 to 718 in 2011, a decline of 46 percent.
- The leading cause of HIV transmission was sexual contact between heterosexual and same-sex partners.
- There was an 80 percent decrease in the number of HIV cases caused by injected drugs with needles, from 149 cases in 2007 (before the District’s needle-exchange program began) to 30 in 2011.
Perry Stein
Washington City Paper
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