HIV/AIDS Prevention Today

Prevention works. In the United States, investments in HIV prevention have paid off. The rate of new HIV infections has slowed from more than 150,000 in the mid-1980s¹ to 55,000-58,500 per year now². Despite the substantial decline, the rate of new infections is still unacceptably high, making prevention as important as ever.

Preventing HIV Infection
Prevention and the CDC
Featured CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention Information
CDC Prevention Programs

Preventing HIV Infection

The most reliable ways to avoid becoming infected with or transmitting HIV are:

Abstain from sexual intercourse (i.e., oral, vaginal, or anal sex)
Be in a long-term, mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner
Abstain from sharing needles and/or syringes for nonprescription drugs

HIV and STDs
All partners should get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) before initiating sexual intercourse. Having another STD increases, by two to five times, the likelihood a person will become infected with HIV and increases the likelihood an infected person will transmit HIV. (Learn more about the connection between HIV and STDs).

If a person chooses to have sexual intercourse with a partner whose infection status is unknown or who is infected with HIV or another STD, a new condom should be used for each act of insertive intercourse - oral, anal, or vaginal. (Learn more about infected persons.)

HIV and Injection Drug Users
Injection drug use has directly and indirectly accounted for more than 36% of AIDS cases in the United States since the epidemic began³. Beyond abstinence, using a new, sterile needle or syringe with each injection remains the safest, most effective approach for limiting HIV and hepatitis transmission. (Learn more about injection drug users and HIV/AIDS.)

HIV and Pregnancy
Pregnant women should be routinely counseled and voluntarily tested for HIV. Early diagnosis allows a woman to receive effective antiretroviral therapies for her own health and preventive drugs (e.g., Zidovudine, also known as ZDV) to improve the chances that her infant will be born free of infection. (Learn more about women and HIV/AIDS.)

Prevention and the CDC

As part of its overall mission of reducing illness and death worldwide, CDC provides leadership in preventing and controlling HIV infection by working with community, state, national, and international partners. The Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention (DHAP), part of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, coordinates CDC's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.

CDC's HIV Prevention Goals
CDC's overarching national HIV prevention goal is to reduce the number of new HIV infections in the United States from an estimated 40,000 to 20,000 per year, focusing particularly on eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in new HIV infections.

Four specific goals comprise the overarching national goal:

Decrease the number of persons at high risk for acquiring or transmitting HIV infection.
Increase the proportion of HIV-infected people who know they are infected.
Increase the proportion of HIV-infected people who receive prevention services and are linked to appropriate care and treatment.
Strengthen the capacity nationwide to monitor the epidemic, develop and implement effective HIV prevention interventions, and evaluate prevention programs.

In addition, the CDC has the international goal of assisting in reducing HIV transmission and improving HIV/AIDS care and support in partnership with resource-constrained countries. Specific strategies and objectives that support each of these goals can be found in CDC's HIV Prevention Strategic Plan: Extended Through 2010. See also CDC's Comprehensive HIV Prevention: Essential Components of a Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent Domestic HIV 2006.

CDC's HIV Prevention Strategy
CDC's comprehensive prevention strategy includes:

Tracking the epidemic to monitor HIV-related morbidity and mortality, plan and evaluate prevention programs, and guide the allocation of HIV program funds
Identifying causes that lead to HIV infection and identifying effective approaches to prevent infection
Implementing prevention programs, including counseling, testing and referrals, partner notification, and prevention for high-risk populations
Building capacity of state and local programs
Program evaluation and policy development
Fostering linkages with care and treatment programs

To enact its strategy, CDC is working in collaboration with many other governmental and nongovernmental partners at all levels to implement, evaluate, and further develop and strengthen effective HIV prevention efforts nationwide. In addition, CDC is providing financial and technical support for:

Disease surveillance
HIV antibody counseling, testing, and referral services
Street and community outreach
Risk-reduction counseling
Prevention case management
Prevention and treatment of other STDs
Public information and education
School-based AIDS education
International research studies
Technology transfer systems
Organizational capacity building
Program-relevant epidemiological, sociobehavioral, and evaluation research

As the lead agency for HIV prevention in the United States, CDC will continue to improve both biomedical and behavioral strategies to combat the HIV epidemic as it evolves. Clearly, multiple strategies are required to maintain and improve progress in prevention.

Featured CDC HIV/AIDS Prevention Information

HIV Prevention in the United States: At a Critical Crossroads
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). A Potential New Method for HIV Prevention. Advocate's Pocket Toolkit.
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

The National HIV Prevention Inventory: The State of HIV Prevention Across the U.S.
From the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors

Effect of Antiretroviral Therapy on Risk of Sexual Transmission of HIV Infection and Superinfection
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

2009 Compendium of Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Interventions
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Condoms and STDs: Fact Sheet for Public Health Personnel
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Condom Fact Sheet In Brief
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

2009 National HIV Prevention Conference Presentations and Webcasts

HIV Prevention Strategic Plan: Extended Through 2010
From CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention

Advancing HIV Prevention: New Strategies for a Changing Epidemic

¹ CDC. Interpretation and Discussion of Findings [online]. 2007. [cited 2008 Aug 15]. Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/testing/resources/reports/hiv_prevalence/interpretation.htm.
² CDC. HIV Incidence [online]. 2008. [cited 2008 Aug 15]. Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/incidence.htm.
³ CDC. Drug-Associated HIV Transmission Continues in the United States [online]. 2002. [cited 2008 Aug 15]. Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/factsheets/idu.htm.