CONNECTIONS
A Bimonthly e-Newsletter
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Director's Update

January - February 2014

Recently, CDC published the first National HIV Prevention Progress Report and Progress At-A-Glance. This report uses CDC data to describe progress toward achieving CDC’s HIV prevention goals and the challenges that continue to hinder our success. The report shows results for 21 indicators that support planning, monitoring, and program improvement activities related to key priorities of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). The Office of National AIDS Policy has issued a separate report describing progress toward meeting the NHAS goals. The CDC report shows signs of progress—62 percent of current targets were met or exceeded. However, it also shows that for some indicators improvement is needed. For example, there are an estimated 180,000 people in the United States living with undiagnosed HIV infection, racial/ethnic disparities persist, and the number of new HIV infections is too high and is increasing among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men. Those groups who are disproportionately affected need to be at the center of our work. Knowing what is working is critical to future success.

2012 School Health Profiles Survey Results Released

CDC released the 2012 School Health Profiles (Profiles) survey results. The release includes

A comprehensive report that provides results from surveys conducted in 45 states, 16 large urban school districts, 4 territories, and 2 tribal governments;
A fact sheet describing Profiles and highlighting key 2012 results;
A fact sheet for each state, large urban school district, territory, and tribal government that reports results from the 2012 Profiles and the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey on HIV, other STDs, and teen pregnancy prevention, the obesity epidemic, and tobacco use; and
Information on how to obtain Profiles datasets.

Profiles assesses school health policies and practices including policies related to HIV infection/AIDS, school health education requirements and content, and family and community involvement in school health programs.

Two New Treatments for Hepatitis C Virus

About 3.2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). With the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of two drugs, Olysio (simeprevir) and Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), more effective treatment is now available for chronic HCV infection. Both medications are intended for adults with compensated liver disease, including cirrhosis, who have not received treatment for their infection or for whom previous treatment has not been effective. Both medications are to be used as a component of a combination antiviral treatment regimen for chronic HCV infection. Clinical trials showed a treatment regimen containing Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) was effective in treating multiple types of HCV while Olysio (simeprevir) is approved for treatment of HCV infection with one genotype. CDC continues to urge every baby boomer in America and others at risk to get tested for HCV. Widespread screening, together with new cures, promises to drastically reduce the burden of HCV in this country and save thousands of lives.