CDC: Progress in HIV Prevention in the US "Stopped"

According to the largest public health experts in the United States, over the past few years, HIV prevention in the country has actually “stopped”, and the results of its work can be rated as “zero”. The reason for this, writes Fox News, is that the necessary treatment now barely reaches those who really need it.

A report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), published this Wednesday, states that the country has stopped reducing HIV infections — and this is only a few weeks after President Donald Trump promised to end the HIV epidemic in the United States. by the year 2030.

According to the data provided by the CDC in a press release, starting in 2013, “the volume of new HIV cases has gradually decreased,” and reached about 39 thousand a year. Before that, experts clarify, the number of infected people has declined over several years. Currently, more than 1 million HIV-positive people live in the United States.

The decline "has reached a plateau, because HIV prevention and treatment does not reach those who are able to derive the greatest benefit from it," according to the CDC.

Those who do not have free access to treatment and prevention include residents of the southern United States and rural areas of the country, as well as certain groups of Afro-Americans and Latin Americans.

On February 5, as part of the annual message from the President of the United States to Congress, Donald Trump announced the launch of an HIV campaign, the goal of which is the final victory over the infection by 2030. Reportedly, the plan announced by the head of state was also supported by the CDC director Robert Redfield.

“The time has come when our country should take decisive steps [to fight HIV, - ed.],” Redfield said then. “We need to go beyond the current state to put an end to the HIV epidemic in America.”

Trump's HIV strategy includes four main points: diagnosis, proper medical care, prevention in high-risk groups, and the fastest possible start of treatment. The government expects to reduce the number of new infections by 90% over the next 10 years.

According to federal health officials, more than half of new HIV infections in the United States are registered in 48 of about 3,000 counties in the country. Among them are Washington (DC) and San Juan (Puerto Rico). Fears of specialists also cause the epidemiological situation in the seven southern states, where mainly rural residents live, some of which belong to risk groups.