Women and minorities, Southern states see slower progress
This highly encouraging finding was the result of successes in HIV testing, treatment for people diagnosed with HIV, and achieving viral suppression.Deaths due to HIV-related causes fell by 48.4% from 2010 to 2017, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This highly encouraging finding was the result of successes in HIV testing, treatment for people diagnosed with HIV, and achieving viral suppression, the report authors said, publishing their results in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Analyzing national HIV surveillance data for adults and young people 13 and older who had been diagnosed with HIV, researchers found more worrisome trends for certain groups and geographic regions. From 2010 to 2018, rates of HIV-related deaths among women, multiracial, and Black people saw less significant drops. In 2017 the rate in Southern states was about twice that of the Northeast.
“Expanded efforts to address these and other structural barriers are critical to improving health outcomes, including reducing differences in HIV-related death rates, especially among Black persons and persons in the South,” the authors noted.
“Expanded efforts to address these and other structural barriers are critical to improving health outcomes.”More than 16,000 people with HIV died in 2017, about 5,500 of whom died from causes directly related to HIV. From 2010 to 2017, the rate of deaths of people with HIV due to causes unrelated to their HIV dropped by 8.6%, a much slower rate than for deaths directly related to HIV. This may be cause for concern, especially for at-risk individuals including people who inject drugs.
In 2018 the reduction in overall deaths among people with HIV marked a milestone when it surpassed the 2020 national target of 33%—declining 36.6% since 2010.
Read the full report here.