FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM DECEMBER 6, 2018 • HEALTH • THE QUEENS COURIER 45
health
City’s annual HIV report shows citywide decline
in diagnoses; Queens had 400 cases in 2017
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
editorial@qns.com / @QNS
New York City’s health department is
celebrating the decline in new HIV diagnoses
in 2017 compared to 2016. Th e
health department is now using a new
method to estimate how many of the new
diagnoses in 2017 were among people
who were newly infected with the virus
that year, which alters the recent yearto
year comparisons announced in past
reports.
“Th is historic low in new HIV diagnosis
demonstrates that we are well on our way
to ending the HIV epidemic in New York
City,” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the deputy
commissioner for disease control in
the health department, said in a Nov. 29
statement that accompanied the department’s
annual HIV surveillance report.
“We are diagnosing people with HIV earlier
and linking them to care, preventing
disease progression while harnessing
the power of treatment to prevent
transmissi on.”
According to the report, Queens saw
400 total diagnoses of HIV in 2017, 323 of
which were men and the other 77 women.
Of the men diagnosed, 262 were diagnosed
with HIV alone and the other 61
were diagnosed with HIV concurrent to
their AIDS diagnosis. Of the 77 women,
65 were diagnosed with HIV alone and
the other 12 were diagnosed with HIV
concurrent to their AIDS diagnosis.
In total, 123 people in Queens died of
HIV/AIDS in 2017. In particular, neighborhoods
in Bayside, Little Neck and
the Rockaways saw the highest mortality
rates of HIV/AIDS-related deaths in
Queens.
In New York City as a whole, there
were 2,157 new HIV diagnoses in 2017
compared to 2,279 in 2016, a 5.4 percent
decrease. Among the 2,157, 1,707 were
among men, 394 were among women,
and 56 were among transgender men
and women. Men who have sex with men
accounted for 1,243 of the new HIV diagnoses
in 2017, remaining the risk category
with the most new HIV diagnoses. Th ere
were declines in new diagnoses in all race
and ethnic groups except among Latinos.
New diagnoses among Latinos went
from 768 in 2016 to 774 in 2017. Th ere
were 759 new HIV diagnoses among
Latinos in 2015. While those diff erences
are likely not statistically signifi cant,
they do mean that new diagnoses are not
decreasing in that population.
“It’s alarming,” said Guillermo Chacon,
president of the Latino Commission on
AIDS. “It was a trend that was seen in
2016 and I’m alarmed that it was sustained
in 2017.”
Ultimately, new HIV diagnoses, which
could have happened in 2017 or in any
year before, are at best a
surrogate for new HIV
infections. Federal, state
and local public health
offi cials have used various
methods to estimate
new HIV infections, but
this latest methodological
change is stark.
In 2016 and in prior
years, the city health
department used the
Stratifi ed Extrapolation
Approach (SEA), a
method that used blood
testing, demographic
data, and testing and
treatment history to estimate
the number of new
HIV infections in a given
year.
For the fi rst time this
year, the city used the
CD4-depletion model, a
method that weighs the
distribution of a type of
blood cell, a CD4 cell, in newly diagnosed
people and demographic data to estimate
how many people were newly infected in
a population in a given year.
Using the old method, new HIV infections
in New York City declined by 557
from 2,098 in 2012 to 1,541 in 2016.
Under the new method, new HIV infections
declined by 1,000 from 2,800 in
2013 to 1,800 in 2017. Th e new method
resulted in higher estimated new HIV
infections, but it also showed larger yearto
year declines in HIV incidence.
Th e change was imposed on public
health offi cials across the country by the
federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
“Th e real folks who changed the way
we measure incidence are the CDC,”
Daskalakis told Gay City News. “Th ey validated
it and actually published the studies
… I think there’s a reason they discontinued
the old method. Incidence methods
based on laboratory data are notoriously
questionab le.”
Estimated HIV incidence is not some
academic exercise.
Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor
Bill de Blasio have both endorsed the Plan
to End AIDS, an ambitious proposal that
will use anti-HIV drugs, support services,
and other assistance for HIV-positive
people so they stay on their anti-HIV
drugs, remain healthy and have no detectable
virus in their bodies. People who are
undetectable cannot infect others.
Among HIV-negative people, the plan
proposes to use pre-exposure prophylaxis
(PrEP) in people who are at risk of
becoming HIV infected and post-exposure
prophylaxis (PEP) in people who had
a recent exposure to HIV (no more than
72 hours earlier) to keep them uninfected.
Th e plan aims to reduce new HIV infections
in the state from the estimated
2,481 in 2014 to 750 annually by 2020.
With most new HIV infections occurring
in New York City, the city has set
its own goal of reducing new HIV infections
to 600 annually by 2020. At those
levels, health offi cials estimate, the nearly
40-year epidemic will no longer be able
to sustain itself.
Th e old method of calculating new HIV
infections suggested that the city would
have a diffi cult time getting to 600 new
HIV infections annually by 2020. Th e new
method said there were 2,800 new HIV
infections in the city in 2013 and 2014,
2,600 in 2015, 2,200 in 2016, and 1,800 in
2017. If the city continues to reduce new
HIV infections by 400 a year for the next
three years, it will get to exactly 600 new
HIV infections in 2020.
“We are on track to end the epidemic in
2020,” Daskalakis said.
Emily Davenport contributed to this
report.
Parker Jewish Institute hosts caregiver conference
Parker Jewish Institute hosted the fi rst
Services Now for Adult Persons (SNAP)
Caregiver Conference on Nov. 15. Over
80 health care professionals attended the
conference, which brought together a
panel of experts who addressed the complex
issues of caregiving.
Paola Miceli, MPA, SNAP’s President
and CEO, said her goal was to provide
valuable information to caregivers
and the professionals who assist them.
Michael N. Rosenblut, Parker President
and CEO, welcomed the group of professionals.
“Parker is here for everyone, between
our skilled nursing facility, all our community
programs, insurance with Age
Well New York, and transportation, we’re
here for you,” he said.
Marie Ellen Galasso, LMSW, SNAP’s
Director of Social Services, served as the
conference master of ceremonies.
Th e keynote speaker was Diane Cooper,
RN, President, Caregivers Outreach
Ministry Empowerment (COME).
Galasso introduced Caolina Hoyos,
LMSW, Director, Caregiver Resource
Center, NYC Department for the Aging
(DFTA). Hoyos discussed two types of
caregivers, the informal family caregiver,
and the formal, paid caregiver. Looking
at statistics for all 50 states, there were on
average 34.5 million informal caregivers
caring for people 50 years and older, she
noted. Nationally, 60 percent of informal
caregivers are female and 40 percent
are male.
SNAP staff member Mindy Lesser
secured nine exhibitors with resource
tables: Brandywine Senior Living;
Centerpointe Funding Corp; NYSARC
Trust Services; Ann-Margaret Carrozza,
Esq; Flushing House; AgeWell New
York; Lifefone; Reddy Care Physical
Th erapy; Boulevard Assisted Living. NYS
Assemblyman David Weprin and former
NYS Assemblywoman Ann-Margaret
Carrozza, Esq., both attended.
For more information on SNAP
Caregiver Programs, please call (718)
527-5380.
Photo courtesy of Parker Jewish Institute
Paola Miceli, MPA, SNAP President and CEO,
Michael N. Rosenblut, Parker President and
CEO.
Photo by Donna Aceto
Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, New York City’s deputy commissioner for
disease control, at the December 2016 dedication of the NYC AIDS
Memorial in the West Village.
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