National Minority AIDS Council

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) clearly emphasized the need to provide services to black men who have sex with men (MSM). However, there are no estimates of the unmet HIV-related service delivery needs among black MSM. We estimate that of 195,313 black MSM living with HIV in the US, 50,196 were not yet diagnosed, and 145,118 were aware of their seropositivity (of whom 67,625 were not linked to care and 77,493 were linked to care). Also, of those already diagnosed, ~43,390 had undetectable viral load and 101,728 had detectable viral load. Approximately 19,545 of diagnosed black MSM engage in unprotected risk behavior in serostatus-discordant partnerships. The cost of delivering services needed to meet the NHAS goals is ~$2.475 billion in 2011 U.S. dollars. Mathematical modeling suggests that provisions of these services would avert 6213 HIV infections at an economically favorable cost of $20,032 per quality-adjusted life year saved.

Knowledge about how HIV functions has helped to treat the disease. HIV treatments, drugs that are available, and the types of cells and tissues targeted by HIV are explained. Protease inhibitors and other more commonly used drugs used to fight HIV are listed. A table lists the drugs, their developmental stage, and the pharmaceutical manufacturer. Telephone numbers are provided.

Anyone infected with the HIV virus who is considering treatment should have as much information as possible about the different options available. To treat the infection, doctors are using antiretrovirals to slow down the production of the virus inside the body. Some of the issues that have to be addressed include availability of treatment, knowledge of the drugs, correct ways to use these inhibitors, side effects, and the risks of combining them with other drugs. Contact the National Minority AIDS Council for information.