HIV Among Asians

From 2010 to 2015, estimated annual HIV infections, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, remained stable among Asians in the United States.^d

HIV and AIDS Diagnoses

• Adult and adolescent Asians accounted for 2% (970) of the 40,324 new HIV diagnoses in the United States and 6 dependent areas in 2016.
• Of Asians who received an HIV diagnosis in 2016, 84% (825) were men and 15% (145) were women.
• Infections attributed to male-to-male sexual contact accounted for 90% (740) of all HIV diagnoses among Asian men in 2016. Among Asian women who received an HIV diagnosis, 94% (136) of infections were attributed to heterosexual contact.^e
• From 2011 to 2015, annual HIV diagnoses increased by 35% among Asian gay and bisexual men in the United States and 6 dependent areas.
• In 2016, 336 Asians received a diagnosis of AIDS, representing 2% of the 18,409 AIDS diagnoses in the United States and 6 dependent areas.

Living With HIV

• Of the 15,800 Asians estimated to be living with HIV in the United States in 2015, 80% had received a diagnosis, a lower percentage than for any other race/ethnicity.
• Of Asians living with HIV in 2014, 57% received HIV medical care, 46% were retained in HIV care, and 51% had achieved viral suppression.^f A person living with HIV who takes HIV medicine as prescribed and gets and stays virally suppressed can stay healthy and has effectively no risk of sexually transmitting HIV to HIV-negative partners.

HIV Diagnoses Among Adult and Adolescent Asians in the
United States and 6 Dependent Areas by Transmission Category and Sex, 2016

*Had both risk factors.
Source: CDC. Diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States and dependent areas, 2016. HIV Surveillance Report 2017;28.

Prevention Challenges

There are some behaviors that put everyone at risk for HIV. These include having vaginal or anal sex without a condom or without medicine to prevent or treat HIV, or sharing injection drug equipment with someone who has HIV. Other factors that affect Asians particularly include:

• Undiagnosed HIV. People living with undiagnosed HIV cannot obtain the care they need to stay healthy and may unknowingly transmit HIV to others.
• Cultural factors. Some Asians may avoid seeking testing, counseling, or treatment because of language barriers or fear of discrimination, the stigma of homosexuality, immigration issues, or fear of bringing shame to their families.
• Limited research. Limited research about Asian health and HIV infection has resulted in few targeted prevention programs and behavioral interventions in this population.
• Data limitations. The reported number of HIV cases among Asians may not reflect the true HIV diagnoses in this population because of race/ethnicity misidentification. This could lead to the underestimation of HIV infection in this population.

What CDC Is Doing

CDC and its partners are pursuing a high-impact prevention approach to maximize the effectiveness of current HIV prevention methods and improve surveillance among Asians. Funding state, territorial, and local health departments is CDC’s largest investment in HIV prevention.

• CDC provides support and technical assistance to health departments and community-based organizations to deliver prevention programs for Asians, such as The Banyan Tree Project.
• Capacity Building Assistance for High-Impact HIV Prevention provides technical assistance in capacity building to the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum and the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center.
• The CDC publication Effective HIV Surveillance Among Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders outlines successful HIV surveillance activities for health departments in states with high concentrations of Asians.
• CDC is raising awareness through the Act Against AIDS campaigns, including
  • Doing It, a new national HIV testing and prevention campaign that encourages all adults to know their HIV status and protect themselves and their community by making HIV testing a part of their regular health routine;
  • Start Talking. Stop HIV., which helps gay and bisexual men communicate about safer sex, testing, and other HIV prevention issues.
  • Let’s Stop HIV Together, which raises HIV awareness and fights stigma among all Americans and provides many stories about people living with HIV; and
  • HIV Treatment Works, which highlights how men and women who are living with HIV have overcome barriers.

^a A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
^b The term male-to-male sexual contact is used in CDC surveillance systems. It indicates a behavior that transmits HIV infection, not how individuals self-identify in terms of their sexuality. This fact sheet uses the term gay and bisexual men.
^c Dependent areas include American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Palau, and the US Virgin Islands.
^d HIV infections (incidence) includes the number of people who get HIV (both diagnosed and undiagnosed) each year. Diagnoses includes the number of people receiving an HIV diagnosis each year (regardless of the year they were infected). In general, any difference between an incidence trend and a diagnosis trend can be attributed to HIV testing and diagnosis.
^e Heterosexual contact with a person known to have, or to be at high risk for, HIV infection.
^f People are considered retained in care if they get two viral load or CD4 tests at least 3 months apart in a year. (CD4 cells are the cells in the body’s immune system that are destroyed by HIV.) Viral suppression is based on the most recent viral load test.

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