New HIV diagnoses rose by about 1,000 cases nationwide in 2023, according to the latest surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But these data precede the Trump administration’s recent federal health cuts, and advocates fear that numbers will rise further in the future.

 

Given recent disruptions at the CDC, the fate of this year’s national HIV surveillance update was uncertain, but the agency released key findings in April. According to the new data, 39,201 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2023, up from 37,981 in 2022. Men accounted for 81% of new HIV diagnoses, while women made up 19%. Unlike past reports, however, there is no mention of transgender people. Overall, 38% of newly diagnosed people were Black, more than a third were Latino and over half lived in the South. Two thirds of new diagnoses were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact and 6% to injection drug use.

 

The CDC noted that publication of its companion report on estimated HIV incidence and prevalence has been delayed, and this year’s prevention and care monitoring report does not include information on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) coverage due to a reduction in the workforce. But this could be just the tip of the iceberg, advocates say, as budget proposals from the White House and Congress include deep cuts to HIV programs.

 

“From small towns to big cities, every state across the country may lose lifesaving HIV prevention, testing and research programs,” says HIV Medical Association chair Colleen Kelley, MD, MPH. “The result will be more HIV infections nationwide, taking a devastating toll on health and the health care system.”