CDC: HIV Incidence Numbers Higher Than Previously Estimated

In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly revising HIV infections in the U.S. to 56,000 annually, a 40 percent increase over the longstanding estimate of 40,000 annual HIV transmissions – a number that has held steady since 1994.

Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act Introduced

Earlier this week, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) introduced the Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act. If the bill is passed, it would remove all legal barriers to States and local jurisdictions to spend federal funding that they receive for prevention of diseases directly on syringe exchange.

APLA Statement on CDC’s New HIV Figures

AIDS Project Los Angeles issued a statement on a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which showed an increase in the number of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men (MSM).

“Men who have sex with men – especially men of color – remain at greatest risk for HIV/AIDS in the United States,” said Craig E. Thompson, executive director of AIDS Project Los Angeles. “Yet just four of 49 scientifically-supported interventions target this population. The data and the dollars don’t match, at the expense of a new generation of young gay men.”

Click on the link to read the full press release.

AIDS Watch Scholarships Available

Southern California community members interested in attending AIDS Watch 2008 in Washington DC can now apply for a limited number of travel scholarships to the event.

Hosted by the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA), AIDSWatch is the largest annual constituent-based Federal HIV/AIDS advocacy and education event in the U.S.  Unlike previous years, there is no hotel room block for AIDSWatch; participants are
responsible for their own accommodations. 

SCHAC will provide scholarships that cover airfare and accomodations in D.C. Scholarship recipients are expected to attend the all-day training session on Monday, April 28, as well as  advocacy meetings on Tuesday, April 29, and Wednesday, April 30.

For more information, please visit www.schac.org. Please print out, complete, and fax the Scholarship Application Form by April 7, 2008.

New CDC Report Shows Large Spike in HIV Cases

This week, the CDC released the 2006 HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report: Cases of HIV infection and AIDS in the United States and Dependent Areas. The report states that the number of reported cases of HIV infection in 2006 (based on 45 states and 5 U.S. dependent areas with confidential name-based HIV infection reported) was 52,878.

The new report was released with apparently no explanation from CDC about the dramatically increased figure or the differences in their reporting regarding the number of states from which the figure is based. The 2006 figure, based on 45 states, is a 48 percent increase from the 2005 figure based on 38 states, while the number of states reporting is only 18 percent greater.

The full report can be found here.

UPDATE: Community advocates have pointed out that the spike isn’t large if one considers that this is the first year both Illinois and California’s case counts have been taken into account. Both states switched to an HIV names-based reporting system in January 2006. California alone reported approximately 7,000 HIV cases in 2006.