Increased HIV screening may help identify more people with the disease, but there may not be enough resources to provide them with the care they need. The Institute of Medicine's Committee on HIV Screening and Access to Care concludes that more practitioners must be trained in HIV/AIDS care and treatment and their hospitals, clinics, and health departments must receive sufficient funding to meet a growing demand for care.
With the widespread use of highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART), HIV has become a chronic, rather than a fatal, disease. But for their treatment to succeed, patients require uninterrupted care from a health care provider and uninterrupted access to anti-HIV medications. The IOM identifies federal, state, and private health insurance policies that inhibit HIV-positive individuals from initiating or continuing their care.
With the widespread use of highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART), HIV has become a chronic, rather than a fatal, disease. But for their treatment to succeed, patients require uninterrupted care from a health care provider and uninterrupted access to anti-HIV medications. The IOM identifies federal, state, and private health insurance policies that inhibit HIV-positive individuals from initiating or continuing their care.
More than 200,000 people in the United States living with HIV/AIDS do not know they are infected. The Institute of Medicine's Committee on HIV Screening and Access to Care held a workshop and reviewed literature to explore barriers and facilitators to more widespread HIV testing. This book contains the committee's conclusions.
Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death globally, particularly among children and young adults. The spread of new pathogens and the threat of antimicrobial resistance pose particular challenges in combating these diseases. Major Infectious Diseases identifies feasible, cost-effective packages of interventions and strategies across delivery platforms to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, malaria, adult febrile illness, viral hepatitis, and neglected tropical diseases. The volume emphasizes the need to effectively address emerging antimicrobial resistance, strengthen health systems, and increase access to care. The attainable goals are to reduce incidence, develop innovative approaches, and optimize existing tools in resource-constrained settings.
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
The number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the United States is growing each year largely due both to advances in treatment that allow HIV-infected individuals to live longer and healthier lives and due to a steady number of new HIV infections each year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there were 1.2 million people living with HIV infection in the United States at the end of 2008, the most recent year for which national prevalence data are available. Each year, approximately 16,000 individuals die from AIDS despite overall improvements in survival, and 50,000 individuals become newly infected with HIV. In 2011, the CDC estimated that about three in four people living with diagnosed HIV infection are linked to care within 3 to 4 months of diagnosis and that only half are retained in ongoing care. In the context of the continuing challenges posed by HIV, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) released a National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) for the United States in July 2010. The primary goals of the NHAS are to: reduce HIV incidence; increase access to care and optimize health outcomes; and reduce HIV-related health disparities. Monitoring HIV Care in the United States addresses existing gaps in the collection, analysis, and integration of data on the care and treatment experiences of PLWHA. This report identifies critical data and indicators related to continuous HIV care and access to supportive services, assesses the impact of the NHAS and the ACA on improvements in HIV care, and identifies public and private data systems that capture the data needed to estimate these indicators. In addition, this report addresses a series of specific questions related to the collection, analysis, and dissemination of such data. Monitoring HIV Care in the United States is the first of two reports to be prepared by this study. In a forthcoming report, also requested by ONAP, the committee will address the broad question of how to obtain national estimates that characterize the health care of people living with HIV in the United States. The second report will include discussion of challenges and best practices from previous large scale and nationally representative studies of PLWHA as well as other populations.
Thousands of HIV-positive women give birth every year. Further, because many pregnant women are not tested for HIV and therefore do not receive treatment, the number of children born with HIV is still unacceptably high. What can we do to eliminate this tragic and costly inheritance? In response to a congressional request, this book evaluates the extent to which state efforts have been effective in reducing the perinatal transmission of HIV. The committee recommends that testing HIV be a routine part of prenatal care, and that health care providers notify women that HIV testing is part of the usual array of prenatal tests and that they have an opportunity to refuse the HIV test. This approach could help both reduce the number of pediatric AIDS cases and improve treatment for mothers with AIDS. Reducing the Odds will be of special interest to federal, state, and local health policymakers, prenatal care providers, maternal and child health specialists, public health practitioners, and advocates for HIV/AIDS patients. January
