What Is the Scope of HIV/AIDS in the United States?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1.2 million people are infected with HIV in the United States and that 1 in 5 (20 percent) are unaware that they are infected. In 2010, over 47,000 people were newly diagnosed with HIV, the majority of whom were men. HIV infection is over-represented in the African-American community: African-Americans make up almost one-half of the newly diagnosed cases, followed by Whites and Hispanics.

Number and Percentage of HIV-infected Persons Engaged at Each Stage of HIV Care Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR 2011, 60(47):1618-1623.

Effective treatments have dramatically decreased the number of deaths from AIDS since the peak years of the epidemic (1993–1998); however, more than 17,000 people still died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2009. In fact, even among those diagnosed with HIV, a substantial proportion do not receive proper care or remain in treatment (see figure).⁸ Additionally, the trend of people living longer with HIV presents new, long-term healthcare challenges for this population.