Question
In 2015, 39,513 new HIV infections were diagnosed in the United States. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) were most heavily affected by HIV infection, and black and Hispanic MSM comprised 67% of all new diagnoses among MSM. To address this high disease burden among MSM of color, health departments will implement culturally competent HIV prevention are care interventions to reduce HIV acquisition and transmission, and to improve outcomes along the HIV continuum of care. These include antiretroviral (ARV) medications that can be used for HIV preeexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as a daily medication taken by persons at substantial risk for HIV acquisition, or by persons for HIV nonocupational postexpsoure prophylaxis (nPEP) after a potential exposure. The daily use of PrEP has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of HIV acquisition by greater than 90% among sexually active MSM when taken daily. MSM of color will also benefit from prevention services such as routine HIV testing using strategies to detect acute infection, PrEP adherence support, routine screening for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and evidence-based risk reduction interventions. ARV treatment with the goal of viral suppression among persons living with HIV (PLWH) has been demonstrated to significantly reduce the risk of transmission to uninfected sexual partners and to improve health outcomes of infected individuals, and interventions and strategies will be implemented to link, retain, and re-engage PLWH in care and to support their adherence to ARV treatment.