JUNE 11, 2019

The Forgotten Patient

More HIV Patients Are Women, But Data Driving Their Care Are Lacking

By Lauren E. Richey, MD, MPH, FIDSA; Jai J. Patel, MD, MA; and Julia Garcia-Diaz, MD, MSc, FACP, FIDSA, CPI

At the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the United States, disparities in HIV incidence were clearly seen. Initially, men who have sex with men exhibited the highest rates of infection—nearly 15 times the rate seen in women. By 2010, there was a shift seen with women composing 21% of HIV cases in the United States, and the incidence rate for men dropping to only 3 times the rate seen