HIV in LGBTQ+ community

HIV impacts the LGBTQ+ community compared to others

    According to the CDC In the United States, there are 1.2 million people living with HIV, and about 40,000 persons were diagnosed with HIV in 2015. Between 2005 and 2014, the yearly number of new diagnoses decreased by 19%, however, improvement has been inconsistent. For example, gay and bisexual males made up around 2% of the US total population in 2019, yet they accounted for 69% of all HIV-positive people in the country. If present rates of HIV diagnosis continue, one out of every six homosexual and bisexual males will be diagnosed with the virus throughout their lifetime. The percentages of Latino and Black males who are gay or bisexual are 1 in 4 and 1 in 2, respectively.

Hiv treatment is underfunded.

    Our nation's public health system lacks the resources it needs to respond effectively to the HIV and AIDS epidemic after decades of insufficient financing. This system has indeed been terrible for LGBTQ people because the little financing for HIV prevention, treatment, and care has not been focused on or financed in the areas most affected by the virus. Programs like "The Ryan White care program" for example have indeed been terrible for LGBTQ people because the little financing for HIV prevention, treatment, and care has not been focused on or financed in the areas most affected by the virus. Policy decisions based on ideology rather than evidence, such as the funding of more than $1 billion to unsuccessful abstinence-only sex education programs or the implementation of outmoded HIV criminalization policies, impeded federal and state initiatives. People living with HIV can be convicted and imprisoned in more than 30 jurisdictions just because a partner accuses them of concealing their HIV status. There's no evidence that these laws work, and they harm public health by creating shame and discouraging individuals from having HIV diagnosed or treated.

Overview

In the United States and across the world, HIV is a severe public health crisis. Despite the fact that huge scientific discoveries have rendered it simpler than ever before to prevent or treat HIV, there is still no vaccine or cure, and thousands of individuals develop HIV each year. Inadequate financing for public health initiatives, ideological hostility to good judgment preventative strategies, and cultural hurdles such as shame and prejudice have made it particularly difficult to stem the flow of the pandemic.

References:

“HIV and All Gay and Bisexual Men.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Sept. 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/msm/index.html.

“HIV and the LGBTQ Community.” Human Rights Campaign, https://www.hrc.org/resources/hrc-issue-brief-hiv-aids-and-the-lgbt-community.