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San Francisco annual report shows continued drop in new HIV infections
Liz Highleyman, 2017-09-18 10:10:00
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has released its HIV Epidemiology Annual Report for 2016, showing that the number of new infections continues to decline, with decreases seen across demographic groups. Homeless people, however, have higher rates of infection and poorer treatment outcomes.
"Highlights of this year's HIV annual report include at 16% decline in new diagnoses to 223 – the lowest number ever reported in San Francisco," said Dr Susan Scheer, director of the DPH's HIV Epidemiology Section. "This means we have cut new diagnoses by over half since 2006."
While new HIV infections nationwide decreased by 18% over 6 years (2008 to 2014), according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, San Francisco saw nearly as great a drop last year alone, and a 49% reduction over the past four years, health commissioner Dan Bernal noted at a September 15th press conference launching the report.
The latest findings indicate that San Francisco is making progress towards achieving the goals of its Getting to Zero initiative: zero new HIV infections, zero deaths due to HIV/AIDS and zero stigma against people living with HIV.
"New HIV infections in San Francisco are declining at a faster rate than ever, and the city continues to do better than the nation in reducing new infections," said city health director Barbara Garcia. "Better yet, new infections are dropping among all groups, including African American and Latino men, and we are starting to close the disparity gap. It is essential that we focus on disparities in order to get to zero."
Source:1
