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The progress that was being made towards preventing HIV has stalled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which made the announcement after reviewing and releasing the latest data.
The CDC said that the dramatic decline in annual HIV infections due to prevention efforts has stopped.
Following approximately five years of substantial declines, in recent years, new infections stabilized around 2013, reaching an average annual infection rate of about 39,000 new cases per year.
The CDC report was released after the analysis of HIV trends in the US, based upon the latest data which spans from 2010 to 2016.
Gay and bisexual men continue to account for the largest portion of new infections, making up about 70 percent of new cases.
Among heterosexual men and women combined, new infections decreased by 17 percent.
Among intravenous drug users, new infections decreased by 30 percent.
Among gay and bisexual men who are Latino, new infections increased by 30 percent. New infections among white gay and bisexual men decreased by 15 percent. There was no change for African-Americans.
Among heterosexual African-American women, new cases decreased by 15 percent.
New HIV infections decreased in New York by 23 percent and by 40 percent in Washington, D.C.
According to these new statistics, and much stronger effort will be needed to gain momentum again in combating HIV.
During his State of the Union address on February 5, President Donald Trump vowed to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030. The President called for supporting a national plan to end HIV in the United States.
The federal government has laid out a plan based on four key strategies:
“Now is the time for our Nation to take bold action. We strongly support President Trump’s plan to end the HIV epidemic in America,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D. “We must move beyond the status quo to end the HIV epidemic in America.”
