Progress in Wiping Out HIV in US Has Stalled, CDC Says
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:16 pm
FILE - From left, the CDC buildings; the Special Bacteriology Reference Laboratory, the Bioterrorism Rapid Response and Advanced Technology laboratory and the Biotechnology Core Facility are shown in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20, 2014.
U.S. health officials say the progress in the Trump administration's goal of wiping out the HIV epidemic by 2030 has stalled.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 38,000 new cases of HIV occur every year. HIV is the virus that can lead to AIDS.
The CDC's report says white Americans at risk of contracting HIV are up to seven times more likely than blacks and Hispanics to receive a drug called PrEP, which has been shown to cut the risk of getting HIV through sex by as much as 99%.
But the CDC says less than half of at-risk whites use the PrEP, which requires a doctor's prescription.
The CDC says 40% of HIV infections involve people who don't know they have the virus. It urges everyone to get tested and those who test positive to take daily medication to control the virus.