The White House may need to allocate more resources to support the federal HIV eradication plan, suggest the findings of the CDC's latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published Jan. 31.
During his State of the Union address last February, President Donald Trump shared a plan to cut the nation's HIV transmissions by 90 percent within a decade. The plan's first phase focuses on improving prevention, diagnosis and treatment in 50 counties responsible for about half of all new HIV infections in 2016 and 2017.
For the report, CDC researchers analyzed HIV testing outcomes among black people living in these counties using 2017 National HIV Prevention Program Monitoring and Evaluation data.
The researchers found black residents accounted for 43.2 percent of CDC-sponsored tests and 49.1 percent of new HIV diagnoses. In addition, 58.5 percent of black people previously diagnosed with HIV were not receiving care for the condition.
To achieve federal HIV goals, the government must implement additional measures — tailored to each community — to break down the barriers blocking black residents from receiving HIV care, the report suggests.