HIV Fact Sheets

HIV Prevention in the United States:

Expanding the Impact

Expanding the Impact
Today’s Epidemic	Proven Prevention Methods	Progress To Date	Challenges in HIV Prevention	Future of HIV Prevention

Care and Prevention for People Living with HIV

Advances in Treatment

In the mid-1990s, the introduction of highly effective antiretroviral therapy greatly extended the life expectancy of people living with HIV and caused a dramatic drop in AIDS deaths. However, without medical care, HIV still leads to AIDS and early death. Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 600,000 people with AIDS in the United States have died, and even today, more than 15,000 people with AIDS in the United States die each year.³

AIDS Diagnoses and Deaths, 1985-2010

This line graph illustrates two AIDS statistics from 1985-2010. The first line shows the number of AIDS diagnoses, which increased from about 10,000 in 1985 to more than 75,000 in 1992, and then declined, reaching less than 42,000 in 1998. The second line shows the number of deaths due to AIDS in the United States, which increased from less than 10,000 in 1985 to a peak of more than 50,000 in 1995, and then sharply declined beginning in 1996, the year that antiretroviral treatment was introduced, to less than 20,000 in 1998. Both diagnoses and deaths have remained fairly stable from 1999-2010.

(Download High Resolution Version)

Linkage to and Retention in Care

Percentage of HIV-Infected Individuals Engaged in Selected Stages of the Continuum of HIV Care, 2010

This chart shows that a declining number of people with HIV in the United States engaged in each stage of the continuum of HIV care in 2010. Out of 1.2 million Americans with HIV, 902,000 (82 percent) know they are infected; 726,000 (66 percent) were linked to HIV care; 407,000 (37 percent) have stayed in HIV care; 363,000 (33 percent) are receiving treatment; and 275,000 (25 percent) have a very low amount of the virus in their bodies.

(Download High Resolution Version)

AIDS-related deaths occur when people who are infected do not receive the testing, treatment, and care they need. Treatment can help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives and also greatly reduces the chances of passing HIV on to others. However, only 25 percent of people with HIV in the United States are successfully keeping their virus under control.⁴

Late Diagnosis

Far too many people are diagnosed too late to fully benefit from available life-extending treatment. Among those initially diagnosed with HIV infection during 2010, one-third (32 percent) were diagnosed with AIDS within 12 months, indicating they were likely infected for many years without knowing it.³ These late diagnoses represent missed opportunities for treatment and prevention.