CONNECTIONS From the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

Mobile Version - January - February 2020

From the Director Dr. Jonathan Mermin

CDC's recent Vital Signs, "Ending HIV Transmission: Test, Treat, and Prevent, " provides a snapshot of HIV in the United States. The report highlights the actions needed to help end the epidemic, including HIV testing, treatment, and prevention. Each of these actions is a key component of Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE), a federal initiative that aims to reduce new HIV infections by 90% by 2030. The new Vital Signs reports that:

  • About 14% of people with HIV in 2017 did not know they had the virus, and therefore could not take advantage of HIV medicine to stay healthy and prevent transmission of HIV to others.
  • Only 63% of those who knew they had HIV in 2017 were virally suppressed through effective treatment.
  • Only 18% of the 1.2 million people who could benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) had received a prescription for it in 2018.
  • CDC estimates that new HIV infections remained relatively stable, at about 38,000 per year, from 2013 to 2017.

HHS agencies, including CDC, are working to ensure we can hit the ground running now that EHE received funding in FY 2020. CDC and HHS provided funding for three communities to serve as jumpstart programs for the initiative and lessons learned will be shared with all jurisdictions.

2018 School Health Profiles

2018 School Health Profiles state that schools in the United States were more likely to teach students about suicide prevention and violence prevention in 2018 than in 2008. However, HIV prevention topics are losing ground in school health education. Since 2018, the percentage of schools that taught HIV prevention topics fell from 93% to 87% across the United States. States and communities can work with schools to put policies, practices, and programs in place known to protect students from a variety of health risks. Benefits can include promoting connectedness, supporting academic performance, and protecting the health of youth.

Recommendations for Providing Quality Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinical Services, 2020

On January 3, CDC released the Recommendations for Providing Quality Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinical Services, 2020 also known as STD QCS. This is a roadmap for optimizing STD care and compliments CDC's 2015 STD Treatment Guidelines. The Treatment Guidelines focus on the clinical management of patients, while the recommendations can help with clinical operations. Health care settings can use the recommendations to assess their STD care services. This assessment can guide what services a clinic offers and how they can enhance what they do. CDC obtained expert and key stakeholder input to help develop the recommendations. They are outlined in eight sections and further broken down into "should " (strongly recommend) and "could " (mildly recommend) categories.