The nation has continued to make important progress in reducing new HIV infections, improving health outcomes among people living with HIV, and reducing some HIV-related disparities, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Today, HHS released the 2017 National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) Progress Report, the sixth such report since the first NHAS was created in 2010. The report was developed by members of the NHAS Federal Interagency Workgroup, which coordinates implementation and monitoring of the Strategy across the federal government. You can read the report on HIV.gov.

One feature of the NHAS is a series of 17 indicators used to measure our progress in meeting the plan’s objectives. We were able to gather and present information on 16 of the indicators in the report. They showed that we met or exceeded the annual targets in nine categories and made valuable progress toward meeting another two of those targets. 

For instance:

  • The number of new HIV diagnoses decreased by nearly 5% from 41,985 in 2011 to 39,876 in 2015.
  • The percentage of persons living with diagnosed HIV who were virally suppressed increased from 46.0% in 2010 to 57.9% in 2014.
  • The number of adults prescribed PrEP increased by more than 300% from 7,972 in 2014 to 33,273 in 2015.

Unfortunately, the report also shows that progress has not been equal across all populations and regions. There continues to be disparities in HIV risk and diagnoses for gay and bisexual men, stable housing among people living with HIV, and HIV diagnoses in the Southern United States.

This report is a demonstration of the Trump Administration’s ongoing commitment to protecting and improving the health and well-being of all Americans, including those who are living with HIV. The domestic policies and programs of the Federal government continue to be guided by the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which is focused on improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of our efforts to prevent HIV transmission and improve the health of people living with HIV.

Although we are encouraged by the many areas of progress presented in the report, our fight to end HIV is far from over. There is still a large amount of work that needs to be done in order to reach our nation’s goals for 2020. With this report, we hope that every individual and organization engaged in HIV prevention and/or the treatment and care of people living with HIV has a better understanding of the progress we have made as a nation and the challenges that remain before us.

For more information about the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, visit HIV.gov.

This article originally was published on HIV.gov.