CDC’s HIV Work Saves Lives and Money

CDC’S HIV WORK in the U.S. Saves Lives and Money

• About 1.2 million Americans with HIV
• 37,968 new HIV diagnoses in 2018
• $501,000 lifetime cost to treat one person with HIV infection
• About 20% of new HIV infections occur in teens and young adults
• 1 in 7 people are unaware of their HIV infection
• 4 in 5 people who could benefit from PrEP, a medicine to prevent HIV, aren’t getting it

Knowing one’s HIV status is the first step in getting care and treatment—and in protecting others

During 2008-2017, about 10,000 fewer new HIV infections occurred each year as compared to years prior, preventing more than 100,000 HIV cases over the decade, and saving $4.58 billion.

LIVES

In 2017, CDC funded approximately 3 million HIV tests in 61 jurisdictions in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.  Through this program:

• 11,843 people were newly diagnosed with HIV—nearly one-third of all new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. that year
• Eighty-six percent of people newly diagnosed with HIV through CDC-funded programs were linked to care within 90 days
• People who tested positive as part of a CDC-funded program, named 29,455 partners who could be at risk—more than a quarter of those tested were identified as living with HIV

MONEY

Each year CDC-funded programs reach approximately 2 million students to prevent infection of HIV and other STDs at the cost of less than $10 per student.

From 2014-2018, funded local education agencies increased the proportion of schools that implemented quality sexual health education programs from 61 percent to 88 percent in middle schools and from 83 percent to 93 percent in high schools.

For every $1 CDC spent on HIV testing, $2 were saved in direct medical costs.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention