CDC’s HIV Prevention Progress

in the United States 

July 2010

The HIV 

transmission rate 

has declined 89% 

since the 

mid-1980s.

Mother to child 

transmission 

has decreased 

dramatically 

in the last two 

decades.

The proportion 

of persons who 

know they are 

infected with HIV 

increased from 

75% in 2003 to 

79% in 2006.

Fast Facts

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC) works with other federal agencies, 

state and local health departments, national 

organizations, community-based organizations, 

the private sector, and advocates to reduce 

the spread of HIV in the U.S. This work 

encompasses many components, such as:

Behavioral interventions, which have proven 

effective in reducing the risk of acquiring or 

transmitting HIV. Ensuring people have the 

information, motivation, and skills necessary to 

reduce their risk continues to be important. 

HIV testing, which is critical in preventing the 

spread of HIV. Most people change behaviors 

to protect their partners if they know they are 

infected with HIV. 

Linkage to treatment and care, which enables 

individuals with HIV to live longer, healthier 

lives and reduce their risk of transmitting HIV. 

It is imperative that individuals with HIV know 

their HIV status and are linked to ongoing care 

and prevention services. 

Data about transmission rates, incidence, testing 

behaviors, and linkages to care all contribute 

to provide the fullest possible picture about 

progress in the U.S. battle against HIV. 

•	More than 309 million people live in the U.S. 

and more than one million of those people 

are living with HIV (an estimated 1,106,400 

adults and adolescents).

•	The HIV transmission rate - the estimated 

annual number of new HIV infections per 

100 persons living with HIV- has decreased 

over the past two decades.

◦ Since the mid-1980s, the transmission rate 

declined approximately 89% (from 44 

transmissions per 100 people with HIV in

1984 to 5 transmissions per 100 people 

in 2006).

•	HIV incidence – the annual number of 

new HIV infections – has decreased from 

an estimated high of about 130,000 new 

infections a year in 1985 to about 56,300 in 

2006, despite there being more people every 

year living with HIV.

•	Perinatal HIV infections – those transmitted 

from mother to child – have decreased from 

1,000-2,000 per year in the early 1990s to an 

estimated 138 per year in 2004. 

•	HIV infections among injection drug users 

declined by approximately 80% between 

1988 and 2006.

•	The proportion of persons who know they 

are infected with HIV increased from 75% in 

2003 to 79% in 2006. In October 2007, CDC 

launched the Expanded Testing Initiative. In 

two years,

◦ CDC grantees conducted nearly 1.4 million 

tests.

◦ 17,000 persons tested positive for HIV.

▪ Of these, 10,500 individuals had no 

previous diagnosis of HIV.

▪ Nearly 6,500 of the 17,000 who tested 

positive had a previous diagnosis of HIV 

recorded in surveillance records. Yet 

many of these individuals were unaware 

of their diagnosis. 

◦ Of the more than 10,000 persons newly 

diagnosed with HIV, 86% received 

their positive HIV test result, 75% were 

successfully linked to medical care, and 

78% were referred to partner services, so 

that their partners could be advised of their 

potential exposure to HIV and counseled to 

receive HIV testing. 
Page 2

Additonal Resources:

CDC HIV & AIDS

www.cdc.gov/hiv

Visit CDC’s HIV and AIDS 

Web site.

CDC-INFO

1-800-CDC-INFO or

1-800 (232-4636)

cdcinfo@cdc.gov

Get information about 

personal risk, prevention,

and testing.

CDC National HIV Testing 

Resources

www.hivtest.org

Text your ZIP code to KNOW 

IT or 566948

Locate an HIV testing site 

near you.

CDC National Prevention 

Information Network 

(CDC NPIN)

1-800-458-5231

www.cdcnpin.org

Find CDC resources and 

technical assistance.

AIDSinfo

1-800-448-0440

www.aidsinfo.nih.gov

Locate resources on HIV 

and AIDS treatment and 

clinical trials.

For more information, visit the 

CDC HIV & AIDS Web site at 

www.cdc.gov/hiv.

CDC’s HIV Prevention Progress in the United States 

HIV prevention saves lives and money. It is estimated that prevention efforts have averted 

more than 350,000 HIV infections in the United States (a conservative estimate for the period 

1991-2006), as well as more than $125 billion in medical costs. For every HIV infection that 

is prevented, an estimated $355,000 is saved in the cost of providing lifetime HIV treatment – 

significant cost-savings for the U.S. federal government that spent an estimated $12.3 billion

on HIV care and treatment in 2009, and for the U.S. health care system as a whole.

These successes reflect remarkable efforts by people with HIV, communities at risk, health

departments, and other CDC partners. However, CDC recognizes there is much work to be 

done. There are still over 56,000 new HIV infections occurring annually in the U.S. Further, 

certain populations continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV – gay, bisexual, and 

other men who have sex with men (MSM), African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and 

injection drug users – and one HIV infection is estimated to occur every nine and a half 

minutes in the U.S. Only when all Americans are working together, making tough choices, 

and scaling efforts to match the scope of the epidemic, will the United States successfully turn 

the tide of HIV infections.

“As a nation, it is time to determine the direction we will take in fighting this serious – yet preventable – disease. One 

direction leads to complacency and the injustice of an HIV epidemic that affects the most vulnerable of Americans. 

The other turns toward a re-energized, science-driven effort to reduce the spread of HIV. Public health and our 

national conscience require we make the right choice.”

Dr. Jonathan Mermin, Director, CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention