Utilizing HIV transmission rates to assist in prioritizing HIV prevention services

Abstract

The overall, annual HIV transmission rate in the US has been about 4% since the early 1990s. In this paper, we find that the transmission rate for persons unaware of their HIV serostatus is approximately 10.79%, and for persons aware of their HIV seropositivity is about 1.73% overall. However, the latter statistic can be further disaggregated. For persons who receive HIV counselling and testing, and for whom these services are effective, the transmission rate is near 0%. For persons who do not receive counselling services as well as testing, or for whom counselling and testing is insufficient to induce behavioural change, the HIV transmission rate is between approximately 2% and 4%. These estimated transmission rates, as well as the raw number of transmissions and the specific population sizes examined here, suggest some clear recommendations (provided here) for prioritizing HIV prevention services for persons living with HIV.