Aids milestone near?

Governor says state on track to end epidemic by 2020’s end.

With the number of new HIV diagnoses hitting record lows each year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that New York is on track to end the AIDS epidemic by the end of 2020.

The news came with an announcement that, starting in 2019, new regulations will make it easier for individuals with inadequate or no insurance to access HIV care.

The state Health Department is set to publish revised regulations in mid-december that would expand access to its HIV Uninsured Care Programs. These programs provide access to free health care, including HIV drugs, primary and home care, and pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV infection, to eligible low-income New Yorkers.

Currently, an applicant must have household income that’s 435 percent of the federal poverty level or less and liquid resources under $25,000 in order to be eligible. The new regulations will increase eligible income to 500 percent of the federal poverty level, and eliminate the cap on resources.

“As our fight to end the epidemic continues, these new regulations will ensure more individuals living with HIV have access to the care they need and in the process help stop further transmissions,” Cuomo said.

Data from the state Health Department show that new diagnoses of HIV in New York hit record lows for a third consecutive year. In 2017, there were 2,769 new diagnoses in the state, down 20 percent from 2014, when Cuomo announced an ”Ending the Epidemic” initiative to significantly reduce HIV infections by the end of 2020.

New diagnoses among individuals with a history of injectable drug use fell 28 percent from 153 to 110 over the same period. For perspective, at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1990s, several thousand new diagnoses were recorded every year in this category.

Last year, new diagnoses fell across nearly all demographic groups, including sex, age group, race, ethnicity, transmission risk and region.

Although racial and ethnic disparities are still present, the governor’s office noted that new diagnoses per 100,000 people are down 52 percent among blacks, 46 percent among whites, and 42 percent among Hispanics since 2007.

New data also show an increase in the number of people receiving care. As a result, the number of people living with diagnosed HIV who are virally suppressed has continued to climb.

The NYS Ending the Epidemic group is holding a summit Wednesday, as a culmination of World AIDS day activities, which begin Saturday worldwide.