Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the
University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
have reported that the number of new HIV infections and the rate of
transmission in the United States has dropped by 11 and 17 percent between 2010 and 2015.
These numbers, which were published in this week’s AIDS and Behavior journal, fall well short of the goal laid out by the
President’s U.S. National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). The findings .
The NHAS set the goals for HIV reduction at 25 and
30 percent for the transmission rate in 2010. These goals were to be obtained
by 2015. The initiative was started due to the approximately 50,000
people who are infected with HIV each year. The hope of NHAS was to bring
national awareness and a coordinated response to achieve the ambitious goals.
The researchers used data on HIV prevalence and mortality
from 2007-12 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and their own incidence estimates from 2008-12 that were previously
published to evaluate the NHAS and determine whether the goals were met.
