In case you missed this week’s big news from Albany, Gov. Cuomo announced that estimates of new HIV infections for 2014 show a decrease of 41% from 2006. Estimated new HIV infections were fewer than 2,500 for the first time. The estimated HIV incidence rate (that is, the rate of people living with HIV, per 10,000 residents) fell 43% since 2006.
New estimates also report that 123,000 New Yorkers live with HIV, as of the end of 2014. About 10,000 do not yet know they are HIV-positive (8%). While this is good news overall, the report also estimates that only 62% of HIVers are virally suppressed (they have an undetectable viral load) and are, theoretically, incapable of infecting others. NYS would like to increase this percentage while continuing to decrease new infections to less than 750 per year by 2020.
Gov. Cuomo also announced an additional $4 million in funding to spread awareness of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis). The NYS Department of Health unveiled new videos to educate the public about PrEP and a new website, PrEPforSex.org.
GET YOUR SHIRT TOGETHER for the Hudson Valley AIDS Walk & Run!
at Chill Wine Bar in Beacon
Friday, April 29, 2016 8 pm – midnight
with DJ music by Prephab
Funny T-Shirt Contests: wear your funniest, most vulgar, or most clever group t-shirts and you could win! Prizes for Funniest Shirt, Most Vulgar Shirt, and Group or Team Shirts (2 or more coordinating shirts).
Door Prizes & Raffle!
Registered Walkers and Runners can pick up their AIDS Walk/Run shirts that night, or register on-the-spot and get your shirt right there – skip the registration line on May 7th!
T-Shirt Decorating Bar — donate $5 per shirt and glam up your AIDS Walk shirt with craft supplies.
$5 suggested donation at the door
Plus Chill will donate a portion of all sales–come for dinner and stay late for drinks! All proceeds to benefit Hudson Valley Community Services’ programs for local people living with HIV/AIDS.
HVCS recently received word that we were successful in our application to renew and expand our housing program for HIV-positive clients. The New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute is funding a five-year grant to provide emergency rental and utility assistance, and short-term rental assistance, starting on July 1, 2016. While we have had this program for several years, the renewal provides more funds so we can help even more people than before. For the very first time, we will also be able to provide long-term rental assistance for high-need HIV/AIDS clients on Medicaid. Both arms of the program will be available throughout our seven-county region. “Adding long-term assistance to the program is a huge boon,” said HVCS’ Client Services Director, Ginny Schneider. “We know from running the program for years now that many of our clients need more than short-term assistance.” The goal is to keep HIV-positive clients in stable housing for as long as possible so they can focus on their health and work towards a more permanent solution to their housing issues.
The Latino Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic Health Network just released this infographic on the HIV crisis among Hispanic/Latino men. This comes on the heels of the CDC’s recent release of a study which says that 1 in 4 Hispanic MSM (men who have sex with men) are estimated to be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime.
“While Latinos are 17% of the US population, they accounted for 24% of all HIV infections in 2014. In 2014, every 54 minutes a Latino MSM was diagnosed with HIV in the United States and US territories.” Read more here.
However, the study showed very stark disparities among certain risk groups and race/ethnic groups.
Gay and bisexual men have the highest overall risk, but risk varies severely by race and ethnicity, too.
To ensure that things don’t go this way–and so we can reverse these trends–make sure you know your status and get the help you need to stay as healthy as possible. Talk to our Regional Prevention Initiative or CHAPS to see how we can help.
