HIV Infections Down, PrEP Use Up; Racial Gaps Remain
Queer men of color are still hit the hardest, even as infections dip
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
The CDC’s latest “National
HIV Surveillance
System Report,” which
examines statistics
from 2015 to 2019, brings renewed
attention to the racial inequities
in the HIV crisis despite a drop in
new HIV infections in the US.
The report’s fi ndings, published
on May 27, reveal that HIV infections
declined by eight percent from
2015 to 2019 following a “period of
general stability in new infections”
across the country. Health experts
attribute this progress to a drop in
new HIV infections among gay and
bisexual men — and even more so
for younger queer men: There was
a 33 percent reduction in new infections
among those between the
ages of 13 and 24. Research indicates
that the overall decline is due
to increased access to HIV prevention
The CDC, led by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, put out a report that shows a drop in HIV infections and highlights
ongoing racial disparities in HIV treatment and access.
methods such as PrEP.
“The new data from the CDC is
encouraging,” Carl Schmid, executive
director of the HIV+Hepatitis
SUSAN WALSH/POOL VIA REUTERS/FILE PHOTO
Policy Institute, a group advocating
for affordable healthcare for people
living with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis,
said in a written statement. “It
HEALTH
shows that we’re going in the right
direction towards ending HIV. The
use of PrEP is up substantially,
which is great news.
However, young queer men of
color are still disproportionately hit
by new cases. While nearly 23 percent
of people eligible for PrEP were
prescribed it in 2019 — a big jump
from just three percent in 2015 —
the racial disparities are also evident
in these numbers. Eight percent
of Black people and 14 percent
of Latinx people who were eligible
for PrEP were prescribed it compared
to 63 percent of whites.
Diagnoses among transgender
individuals increased overall between
2015 and 2019, though the
increase was concentrated among
those between the ages of 25 and
44. However, researchers cautioned
that the number of transgender
individuals involved in the
data was small.
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