HIV Care Among Gay Men

Men Living with Diagnosed HIV Who Have Sex with Men: Progress Along the Continuum of HIV Care – United States, 2010

A new CDC analysis finds that half of gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV are not receiving care and treatment for their infection. HIV treatment can suppress the amount of virus in the body to a level low enough to dramatically improve a person’s own health and greatly reduce their risk of transmitting to others, yet fewer than half of men who have sex with men (MSM) diagnosed with HIV have achieved viral suppression. Using data from CDC’s National HIV Surveillance System and Medical Monitoring Project to determine the proportion of MSM diagnosed with HIV who were engaged at each stage of care in the U.S. in 2010, researchers found across-the-board gaps in important markers of care. Overall, 77.5% of these men were linked to care within three months of diagnosis, but only half (50.9%) were retained in care. Fewer than half of MSM diagnosed with HIV (49.5%) were prescribed treatment and only 42% achieved viral suppression. Young MSM and African-American MSM were the least likely to receive care and treatment. U.S. clinical guidelines now recommend that everyone with HIV begin therapy upon diagnosis. In conclusion, the authors note that while it is important to improve care outcomes for men who have already been diagnosed, it is also critically important to reach the estimated 19% of MSM who do not know they are infected.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES