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Thirty-eight percent of HIV-positive people were not receiving treatment and were associated with 81% of new HIV infections, according to 2016 data released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Of the 1.1 million people living with HIV in the United States in 2016, 15% did not know they were infected with the virus and were associated with 38% of new infections, according to the data.
Twenty-three percent of people knew that they were HIV-positive, but that they were not cared for and that they were associated with 43% of new infections that year.
According to the CDC, the evidence shows that the US HIV effort must focus on prompt diagnosis of those who have it, treatment as quickly as possible, and the protection of those at risk. being.
"A goal that seemed impossible before is now within our grasp," CDC director Robert Redfield said Monday in a call for journalists.
The administration recently announced a plan to reduce new HIV infections by 75% in five years and by 90% in 10 years.
The data showed that 51% of people living with HIV are on treatment and have suppressed the virus at a very low level where there is no risk of transmission.
There is no cure for HIV. But people on antiretroviral therapy (ART) can live "longer and healthier" and are not at risk of transmitting the virus as long as they take their medications as prescribed, the CDC says.
Eleven percent of HIV-positive people were cared for but had not been repressed by the virus and were associated with 20% of new cases of infection.
This can happen when an HIV-positive person does not take his medications as prescribed, sometimes because they can not afford them.
According to the National Institutes of Health, antiretroviral treatment can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to people without insurance.
The new HIV strategy will focus on expanding access to treatment and prevention drugs.
However, some HIV / AIDS experts believe that the additional $ 291 million requested by federal agencies in the budget request for 2020 is not enough.
Redfield, responding to critics on Monday, did not say how much the plan would cost over ten years, but said he would seek adequate funding to solve the problem.
"We will carry out this plan," said Redfield, adding that he was "confident that we will have the resources".
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