The first organization to map the HIV care continuum, from infection to suppression, has recently released data for several major U.S. cities including Philadelphia.
HIVContinuum.com is a first-of-its-kind website to map HIV-care outcomes across multiple cities and to visually track the number of individuals engaged at each stage of care.
Further, it is able to sort data according to age, ethnicity and ZIP code.
According to the map, the ZIP code that includes the Gayborhood was one of several areas of Philadelphia that had the highest number of new HIV infections. And it was only moderately engaged in or linked to HIV care.
“Around 60 percent or two-thirds of new HIV diagnoses in Philadelphia are from gay, bisexual or other men-who-have-sex-with-men situations,” said Dr. Travis Sanchez, a researcher on the study. “This statistic is also reflected in the national data as well, it is not just specific to Philadelphia.”
While the study was able to classify data according to sexual orientation, Sanchez said it is not presented on the maps yet, but that future iterations of the project could potentially include it.
For more information, visit www.hivcontinuum.org.