San Francisco: 1st increase in cases in ten years

Setback. For the first time in more than a decade, the city of San Francisco (USA) recorded an increase in HIV positive findings in 2021, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. According to the latest data released on September 13, 160 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2021, an increase of 16% compared to the 138 discovered in 2020. Health authorities did not specify whether this increase was due to a “catch-up” of the year 2020 during which access to screening was greatly reduced (45% fewer screenings in 2020), but it is a strong probability. In 2021, the health crisis linked to the Covid pandemic continued to disrupt the city of San Francisco’s goal of reaching zero new HIV infections. Dr. Susan Buchbinder, a member of the city’s Getting to Zero program, says while HIV testing has picked up well in 2021, surpassing pre-Covid 2019 numbers in some places, some groups further away from care like the homeless and drug users have not resumed the habit of getting tested. The data from the 2021 discoveries also highlights the social inequalities exacerbated by the health crisis. Thus, the rate of discoveries of seropositivity is three times higher among black and Latino men than among white men. In addition, black and Asian people also had a lower rate of viral suppression (undetectable viral load) six months after diagnosis than white people (65% versus 73%). Data that clearly shows the disparities in access to prevention (including Prep mainly used by white men from a more affluent social category), screening and care in one of the cities that has made the most progress towards elimination of HIV.