AIDSVu Unveils First Site to Map the HIV Care Continuum

ATLANTA, Feb. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, AIDSVu launched HIVContinuum.org, a site that visualizes the HIV care continuum in five major U.S. cities: Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, New Orleans, LA, Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC. This interactive website is the first of its kind to map HIV care outcomes across multiple cities and to visualize the number of individuals engaged at each stage of care. HIVContinuum.org supports President Obama's commitment to the national response to the HIV epidemic by highlighting areas for greater focus and funding in order to maximize the care and treatment of those living with HIV. The site is the inaugural Powered By AIDSVu project, presented by Emory University in partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc. and MAC AIDS Fund.

The HIV care continuum, also known as the HIV treatment cascade, demonstrates each stage of HIV care from initial diagnosis to achieving viral suppression. Many HIV prevention efforts rely on identifying patterns and trends in populations impacted by the epidemic, including HIV care disparities related to race, age and geographic location. Understanding these factors is important to improving the health of people living with HIV, and to reduce the spread of HIV. People living with HIV who have their virus suppressed are much less likely to transmit the virus to others. By mapping the treatment cascade, HIVContinuum.org allows local communities, health departments and policy makers to visualize areas of success and opportunities for improvement in HIV testing, care and treatment.

"We are excited to work with health departments to shed new light on the HIV epidemics in these five cities," said Patrick S. Sullivan, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health. "HIVContinuum.org allows public health officials and others working in HIV prevention and care to expand efforts in areas where people are in need of additional support to get and stay engaged in care. With limited resources, information about how to target resources is critical in stopping the spread of HIV and improving the health of those who are living with HIV."

HIVContinuum features include:

• Maps that depict five HIV care continuum indicators: New HIV diagnoses, late HIV diagnoses, linkage to HIV care, engagement in HIV care, and suppressed HIV viral load.
• Users are able to filter each indicator by sex, race/ethnicity, and age for a deeper understanding of the state of the epidemic.
• Downloadable slide decks to help those who work in HIV prevention and treatment educate others.

The maps available on HIVContinuum.org illustrate details about the HIV care continuum in several highly impacted cities:

• The city-level maps easily identify variations in continuum outcomes across geographic regions and highlight the substantial differences in continuum outcomes for race/ethnicity, age and gender subpopulations.
• HIV testing and treatment locations viewable on HIVContinuum's interactive maps can help to identify service gaps to initiate conversations about the resources needed to improve specific continuum outcomes.

The HIVContinuum.org pilot was featured in the White House's 2013 National HIV/AIDS Strategy report as an example of a public-private partnership that is helping to improve outcomes along the care continuum.  Data for HIVContinuum.org is made possible by local health departments. Detailed information on data methods can be found here.

About AIDSVu
AIDSVu was developed by Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health in partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc. The project is guided by an Advisory Committee and a Technical Advisory Group with representatives from federal agencies, state health departments and non-governmental organizations working in HIV prevention, care and research. HIVContinuum is a Powered By AIDSVu project presented by Emory University in partnership with Gilead Sciences and MAC AIDS Fund that visualizes the HIV treatment cascade.

About the Rollins School of Public Health
The Rollins School of Public Health is part of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The school houses six academic departments, 20 multidisciplinary centers – including an NIH-supported Center for AIDS Research – and over 160 full-time doctoral-level faculty members.

SOURCE AIDSVu