Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
In February 2019, the U.S. government updated its national goals to eradicate the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic by 2030, and while significant progress has been made in the fight against HIV in recent years, this trend has not been reflected in the Hispanic and Latino community.
Added to this is another epidemic, SARS-CoV-2, which is presenting many challenges, especially for undocumented immigrants, who are more vulnerable to becoming ill with COVID-19 because they are afraid to seek medical care due to their immigration status.
In the framework of World AIDS Day, which is commemorated on December 1 each year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reported that there are one million HIV-positive or AIDS-positive people in the U.S. The number of cases reported annually peaked in 1993, when approximately 80,000 people were infected. The number of cases reported annually peaked in 1993, when approximately 80,000 people were infected.
While from 2014 to 2018, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the annual number of diagnoses among adults and adolescents decreased by 7.0 percent; however, it has increased among other groups, such as Latinos and Hispanics.
A report from the Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health, released in 2019, indicates that although estimated HIV incidence in the U.S. has registered a 6.0 percent decrease since 2010, among Latino and Hispanic populations, it has instead increased 14 percent.
Similarly, it refers that the annual number of Latinos newly diagnosed with HIV has increased 7.0 percent between 2012 and 2016, in contrast to overall annual new HIV diagnoses across the United States, which have decreased 4.0 percent.
When looking at the number of incidences by community, among the Afro-descendant community there has been a 5.0 percent drop; among Caucasians there was an 8.0 percent drop, while among Hispanics and Latinos there was a 7.0 percent increase.
Within the Hispanic and Latino community, a key population affected by HIV is the 13- to 25-year-olds, who are up 9.0 percent in new diagnoses, compared to, for example, African-American youth of the same age, who have fallen 10 percent.
The research also adds that Latino and Spanish-speaking men who have sex with men accounted for the largest increase in annual infection estimates in terms of race, ethnicity and, therefore, are the group with the highest transmission of the HIV virus, which causes AIDS.
Similarly, men aged 25-34 who have sex with men, and who are of Hispanic or Latino origin, accounted for the largest increase in estimated annual infections of all population groups.
The Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health adds that some of the drivers of the epidemic may be the stigma associated with HIV, gaps in knowledge about the disease and its risks, distrust of the health care system, lack of medical coverage, as well as homophobia and transphobia.
Disparities among communities with HIV and AIDS are not the only challenge to achieving the goal of defeating the epidemic by 2030, but another epidemic that has magnified the problems for the Latino community is COVID-19.
According to Heriberto Soto-Sanchez, director of the Hispanic AIDS Forum, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted services to curb the HIV epidemic, and even threatens the future of organizations fighting to eradicate the disease.
COVID-19 has exacerbated many challenges immigrants already face, as in addition to dealing with HIV or AIDS - depending on your case - they have to deal with the stress of finding or keeping their jobs, having enough money to pay for housing expenses, as well as trying to stay alive.
And, he said, stress can trigger an increase in viral load, which can make a person living with HIV much more susceptible to diseases such as COVID-19, so this can become an extremely complex situation.
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, stresses that "we have a unique opportunity to reinvent health systems" in order to be better equipped to create healthier and more resilient societies.
"We can capitalize on this opportunity and learn from AIDS and COVID-19 to implement substantial changes that will enable us to develop rights-based, equitable and people-centered health systems," he said.
