Our first Hispanic Equity Brief, HIV Diagnoses among U.S. Hispanics: Trends and Inequities, seeks to highlight the ongoing impact of HIV and the uneven progress towards achieving the goals of Ending the HIV Epidemic by 2030. We hope this brief contributes to the ongoing efforts of health advocates, practitioners, researchers, multi-service providers, and policymakers to address HIV inequities.
For more information, download our Equity Brief or visit our Tableau.Public.
Over the past decades, state and local HIV prevention efforts, including Ending the Epidemic strategies, led to notable reductions in new HIV diagnoses across various subpopulations. However, this progress has been uneven. In some states, the number of new diagnoses has decreased more slowly for Hispanics than the whole population. HIV rates, the number of cases per 100K people, allow for comparisons between populations of different sizes. While decreasing in many states, HIV rates have increased in others with significant Hispanic populations.
Historically, New York and California, two states with large Hispanic populations, have consistently felt the impact of HIV. However, Hispanic populations are growing across most Southern and Western states, and these regions accounted for 73.8% of the HIV cases among U.S. Hispanics in 2021. Furthermore, progress continues to be uneven for Hispanic gay/bisexual men and men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women, and newly settled immigrants.
Geographic diversity in new HIV diagnoses and rates reflects the vast range in the historical, cultural, political, social, economic, and migratory conditions in which risk occurs. We must tailor and segment effective prevention strategies and develop new ones to address our geographic and cultural diversity. We also require a more granular, targeted, community-engaged, and culturally responsive approach to research, policy, and implementation of the Ending the HIV Epidemic strategies.
For more information, visit our Tableau.Public.
The Latino Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic Health Network led this critical data analysis through their Institute for Latinx Health Equity, our community-driven research and innovation program.