According
to the CDC authors, "Declines in HIV transmission rates reflect the success
of prevention efforts across the U.S., on a national, community, and an individual
level." Behavior change, increased HIV testing, and effective antiretroviral
therapy have all likely played a role.Below
is the text of a "Dear Colleague" letter from Richard Wolitski, acting
director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, describing the new estimates,
which are due to appear in print in early 2009. More information is available
on the CDC's web site at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance.
Dear
Colleague:
In early 2009, the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndromes (JAIDS) will publish a research letter authored jointly by researchers
at Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). The letter will provide an updated estimate of the HIV transmission rate
in the United States from 1977 through 2006 and offers an innovative way to measure
the success of HIV prevention efforts nationwide. The on-line version of this
letter was posted last week and can be found at www.jaids.com
in the Publish Ahead of Print section for November 22, 2008.
The letter
published in JAIDS explains how declines in the rate of HIV transmission
represent a major success in HIV prevention. The analysis found that the rate
of HIV transmission has declined by 89% since the peak of the epidemic and just
in this past decade, the transmission rate has declined by 33%. This represents
major successes in HIV testing and prevention that have resulted in reductions
in the percentage and number of persons with undiagnosed HIV infection. It also
likely reflects the effects of evidence-based behavioral interventions with people
living with HIV and the increased availability of life-saving highly active antiretroviral
therapy (HAART). These data provide further evidence that prevention does work
when we apply what we know, and underscore the need to make HIV testing and effective
interventions available to those who are living with HIV and at-risk for contracting
the virus.
It is important to note, however, that despite prevention
successes, we are facing an uphill battle. Due to successful prevention efforts
and treatments such as HAART, many more people are living longer with HIV than
ever before. As the number of people living with HIV continues to grow, so will
the need for prevention, medical care, and HIV treatment. Successfully fighting
this battle will require continued commitment from all communities -- and from
the nation as a whole.
To help you further understand the significance
of these data, as well as explain in greater detail how the transmission rate
serves as an indicator of the success of our collective HIV prevention efforts,
CDC has developed a podcast and a fact sheet available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance.
We hope that you will find this information useful to the HIV prevention work
you do in your community. Thank
you for your continued commitment to HIV/AIDS prevention.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Wolitski, Ph.D.
Acting Director
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention
National
Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention |
12/12/08 Reference DR
Holtgrave, HI Hall, PH Rhodes, and RJ Wolitski. Updated Annual HIV Transmission
Rates in the United States, 1977-2006. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndromes. November 22, 2008 [Epub ahead of print]. Other
sources R.
Wolitski. Dear Colleague Letter: Updated Estimate of the HIV Transmission Rate
in the United States. December 4, 2008. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Fact
sheet: HIV Transmission Rates in the United States. December 2008
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