Targeted Paths to HIV Prevention

On June 5, 1981, the MMWR became the first scientific publication to report cases of a mysterious disease that came to be known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). During the next 30 years, this pandemic claimed as many as 25 million lives. In the United States, where the HIV epidemic has taken the lives of more than 600,000 Americans, we now have a new National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which is leading a more coordinated Federal response. This strategy aims to ensure that new prevention methods are identified and that prevention resources are most strategically aimed at persons and communities at high risk.

The Federal response to the global fight against HIV/AIDS, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has resulted in tremendous public health impact and strengthened health systems—resulting in life-saving antiretroviral treatment for over 3.2 million people worldwide. Although there have been great strides in the fight against this epidemic, today there are still more than 33 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS. Now, more than ever before, global prevention efforts need concentrated scale-up of evidence-based interventions that can be used to substantially impact the epidemic.

This session of Grand Rounds addressed the renewed focus on prevention and the importance of evidence-based, tailored HIV prevention strategies and interventions targeting specific settings and populations globally and here at home.