Robert R. Redfield, MD, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a statement earlier this week detailing new efforts the agency says it will take to eradicate the U.S. HIV epidemic.
“The Administration’s plan will deploy the people and key prevention and treatment strategies needed to reduce new HIV infections by 75 percent over the next 5 years, with the hope of a 90 percent reduction within 10 years,” Redfield said in a public media statement. “We have the tools to end new HIV infections in this Nation, but they must be applied now. The most recent data suggest that progress in reducing new infections has plateaued, and many communities remain vulnerable to HIV infection.”
In the statement, CDC proposed four key strategies that it says will target communities with the highest HIV burden. They are:
- diagnose new HIV infections
- treat those with infection rapidly and effectively
- protect people from being infected through access to comprehensive prevention and treatment, including medications that can prevent infection
- respond quickly to and stop new outbreaks.
CDC says it intends to fast-track collaborations with state and local health departments and to promote and track progress, new HIV-support teams will be deployed on the ground in communities that bear the biggest HIV burden.
