The district also has access to culturally competent professionals to screen, test and treat residents at a time when national staffing shortages face more barriers to accessing care, including an increase in homelessness. It is said that the number is decreasing.
“If you don’t know where you’re going to sleep every night, you don’t really need to worry about whether you’ve gotten an HIV test,” says Clover Burns, DC Health’s senior vice president for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections. and the Tuberculosis Control Board.
The number of new HIV infections is down slightly from last year, part of an overall downward trend since infections peaked nearly 20 years ago. Following national trends, syphilis cases among women and their infants increased in 2022, but there is evidence to suggest the tide may be turning, district public health experts say.
“The pandemic has had a significant impact on the availability, accessibility and utilization of disease screening, prevention and care services, which still have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Care-seeking behavior, Action, particularly on preventive measures, continues to lag,” the report said.
Public health officials say they are getting creative to facilitate access to care, especially for Black residents, who have been disproportionately affected. We’re looking for artists to meet people wherever they are, show up at events, and share messages about prevention and treatment.
The effort comes as the district’s federally qualified health centers and community-based organizations face national staffing shortages, slowing the district’s efforts to recruit culturally sensitive public health workers. Burns said it was extremely difficult.
“We don’t have the same capabilities that we had before COVID-19,” she said in an interview Thursday.
Reduced testing will lead to more cases, she said, noting that The number of new HIV diagnoses has been declining over time. There were 210 new HIV diagnoses in 2022, down from 224 in 2021 and 274 in 2019, before the coronavirus disrupted care for many people. Despite progress since a peak of 1,374 infections in 2007, The findings were made in the annual epidemiology and surveillance report.
Approximately 1.7 percent of the DC population, or 11,747 people, are living with HIV. According to the report, black people make up about 44 percent of the population but about 70 percent of people infected with HIV.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has set a goal for dozens of cities, including Washington, D.C., to reduce the number of new HIV infections to fewer than 21 per year by 2030, but Burns said the numbers have been revised. He said that there is a possibility that
Although the district has not reported any infants born with HIV since 2019, the report shows that the number of infants infected with syphilis is on the rise in 2022, with an increase in overall syphilis cases. It is said that there is. The data shows that three in five people diagnosed with syphilis in 2022 were black, a number that increased by 10 percent from 692 in 2021 to 761 in 2022.
Burns said preliminary numbers for 2023 show that the number of congenital syphilis cases will increase from three in 2019 to 12 in 2022, but the focus is on better understanding the needs of women with infections related to substance abuse. He said that there was an improvement as a result of the shift.
Although doctors are encouraged to test at-risk women throughout their pregnancy, Burns said women may only be tested late in pregnancy, which can make effective treatment more difficult. He said there is. That’s if you can get some prenatal care. Public health officials also worked with local health care providers to improve treatment for men who may have infected their female partners, she said.
In 2022, public health officials experimented with new ways to spread hopeful messages and practical information.
The World AIDS Day celebration featured residents living full lives with HIV for up to 40 years and called for a go-go band to speak on social media about the importance of knowing your HIV status. Public health workers also served Black Pride and Capital Pride events.
The agency is sending city workers to clinics at Whitman Walker Health and George Washington University Hospital, as well as using walk-in LabCorp options to make testing more accessible. Free HIV and STI testingstarted during the pandemic, but remains popular, Burns said, with thousands of requests each month.
Candidates scan the QR code to confirm their HIV results. If the test result is negative, the patient will be considered for ways to maintain control, such as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), a once-daily pill that prevents HIV infection.If the test result is positive View resources for help and treatment.
Officials say the district has also had success with a federally funded pilot program. PrEP pays for one year of housing for eight residents, during which time they receive intensive case management and employment training with the goal of independent living. Burns said officials are looking at ways to expand the program from men who have sex with men to transgender women.
