Young people could be most at risk with HIV prevention cuts
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Prospective cuts to domestic HIV prevention efforts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could widen health disparities and weigh heaviest on young Black and Hispanic men in the South, public health officials say.
Why it matters: A Health and Human Services plan reportedly under consideration that would scrap the agency's HIV prevention division and transfer its functions elsewhere would mark a significant shift from President Trump's first term, when he pledged to end HIV in the U.S. by 2030.
- The U.S. spent $1.3 billion to prevent HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs and tuberculosis in FY23, and statistics show populations of young people in the South, particularly those who are Black or Hispanic men, saw the highest rates of new diagnoses in the U.S.
What they're saying: "There is nothing more heartbreaking than having to tell a 14-year-old that they have an illness that they won't be able to cure, and they'll have to take medication in various forms for the rest of their life," said Raynard Washington, a county health director in Mecklenburg, North Carolina.
The plan being considered could be announced as soon as this week, the WSJ reported, and come as part of a bigger reorganization of the CDC. Administration officials cautioned that no final decision on streamlining had been made.
By the numbers: There were 37,981 new cases of HIV diagnosed in the U.S in 2022, an increase from 36,096 in 2021.
- Roughly 1 in 5 new HIV diagnoses in 2022 were among people ages 13 to 24, per the latest CDC data. More than half (56%) of all new cases that year were among people 34 and younger.
- More than half (52%) of new HIV diagnoses were in the South, the data shows.
- The risk for contracting HIV is greatest among men who have sex with men, particularly those who are Black and Latino. In 2022, 38% of those who were diagnosed with HIV were Black and 32% were Latino.
Zoom in: In the North Carolina region that Washington oversees, which includes several rural counties in addition to Charlotte, there are roughly 100 new HIV cases a year. The new cases disproportionately impact Black and Hispanic people, he said.
- It sometimes seems like an uphill battle when it comes to preventing HIV among young people as the disease doesn't inspire the same fear it once did, sexual health literacy among young people is declining and risky behaviors are increasing, he said.
- The local team's outreach included educational efforts in night clubs, along with at-home testing, expanded access to HIV PrEP and providing immediate care when a new case of HIV is diagnosed, he said.
- Another important piece of the puzzle that relies specifically on CDC funding, Washington said, is disease investigation to track exposure and stop the spread.
"If these prevention activities are not going on, unfortunately, I would suspect that more people will be infected with HIV, and we will lose progress that we've made over the last decade," Washington said.
