This week, the US Centers for Disease Control released findings that show that the incidence of HIV in the USA is 40% higher than previously thought. New survey methods show the 2006 incidence rate at 56 000. The agency put the figure at 40 000 annually for several years. “It is important to note that the new estimate does not represent an actual increase in the annual number of new HIV infections”, the agency said. “In fact, CDC’s analysis suggests that the epidemic has been roughly stable since the 1990’s though the number of new HIV infections remains unacceptably high.”

The report shows the greatest number of new infections is among men who have sex with men (53%). The rate among African Americans was seven times as high as that of whites (83.7 per 100 000 versus 11.5 per 100 000).

Even before the new figures were released, the Black AIDS Institute criticised the US for pouring billions of dollars into global AIDS efforts but “fail[ing] to mobilize the same commitment to address the large and growing epidemic within its own borders”. A report released by the group on July 29 says more black Americans are infected with HIV than the total populations of people living with the virus in seven of the 15 focus countries covered by the US President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief (PEPFAR).

The new CDC figures, and the report, are likely to prompt some serious soul searching among US public-health officials and politicians, including the next president. “The HIV epidemic within our own borders is even worse than we had believed”, said key congressional lawmaker Henry Waxman, a Democrat from California. “This is a stark remainder of the importance of evidence based HIV prevention programs. But under this Administration, HIV prevention has been underfunded and too often hindered by politics and ideology.”

In a statement released Aug 3, Obama said, “These new figures should bring new focus to our efforts to address AIDS and HIV at home.” Barack Obama’s campaign platform calls for a national HIV/AIDS strategy and prevention and education activities focused on vulnerable communities.

McCain responded by saying: “As president I will work closely with non-profit, government, and private sector stakeholders to continue the fight against HIV/AIDS. By focusing efforts on reducing drug costs through greater market competition, promoting prevention efforts, encouraging testing, targeting communities with high infections rates, strengthening research and reducing disparities through effective public outreach, we as a nation can make great progress in fighting HIV/AIDS.”

Nellie Bristol

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 at 3:11 pm and is filed under US Election, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can trackback from your own site.