CDC identifies significant racial disparity among newly diagnosed cases of HIV

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published nationwide data in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) that examined human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), testing outcomes by race in high prevalence jurisdictions. High prevalence jurisdictions were defined as areas that accounted for more than 50% of new diagnoses in the US between 2016 and 2017. Findings from this report show black people and Hispanics have significantly higher diagnosed incident cases of HIV in the US in these jurisdictions.

According to the MMWR, approximately 50% of diagnosed incident cases of HIV in 2017 were in black people / African Americans, while over 25% were in Hispanics / Latinos. This analysis highlights two special populations that are disproportionately affected by HIV, and underscores the importance of identifying why and how to improve HIV outcomes in these subgroups.

GlobalData epidemiologists estimate that in 2020, 49,177 new cases of HIV will be diagnosed in ages 13 years and older. Based on the statistics from MMWR, around 25,000 cases will occur in black people / African Americans, while approximately 13,000 will occur in Hispanics (as shown in Figure 1). This burden will only continue to grow unless new screening and community outreach strategies are implemented to successfully reach segments of the population that have never been tested for HIV. To achieve the nation’s goal of ending the HIV epidemic, new and different approaches need to be aimed at underserved and high-risk populations that are significantly affected by various factors such as stigma, limited educational resources, and inadequate access and linkage to care.