HIV Treatment Cascade Video Now Also Available in Spanish

“Ahora el video de la Cascada de Tratamiento de VIH también está disponible en español”

Recently we shared an animated video about the HIV treatment cascade. We’re pleased to share the Spanish language version of this video that its producer, GileadExit Disclaimer, has just released:

While anyone can become infected with HIV, some Americans are at greater risk than others including Latinos and Latinas, who accounted for 21% of all new HIV infections in 2010 while representing approximately 16% of the total U.S. population according to the CDC . In fact, CDC estimates that at some point in life, 1 in 36 Latino men will be diagnosed with HIV, as will 1 in 106 Latina women. As such, the National HIV/AIDS Strategy includes Latinos and Latinas among the populations it prioritizes for greater attention in HIV prevention, care, and treatment efforts.

HIV Treatment Cascade

The HIV treatment cascade – sometimes also called the HIV care continuum – is a model being used by federal, state and local agencies to identify issues and opportunities related to improving the delivery of services to persons living with HIV across the entire continuum of care—from diagnosis of HIV infection and active linkage to care to initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), retention in care, and eventually achieving viral suppression (meaning no detectable virus in the blood). The cascade illustrates the proportion of individuals living with HIV/AIDS engaged in each of those various steps in that continuum of care. Unfortunately, it shows that along each step of the continuum, a significant number of people living with HIV in the U.S. “fall off”. In fact, only a minority of persons with HIV achieve suppression of their viral infection, the ultimate goal of HIV treatment that primarily benefits individual health, but also has the important secondary benefit of reducing the likelihood of viral transmission. CDC estimates that three out of four people living with HIV in the United States have not successfully made it through the entire HIV treatment cascade, achieving a suppressed viral load.

“Clearly, we have more work to do,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently remarked when discussing engagement in HIV care with domestic and global partners. “Identifying and reducing the obstacles along the path from diagnosis to viral suppression is one of the key goals of the President’s National HIV/AIDS Strategy.”

Indeed, we all must do better at engaging a higher percentage of people living with HIV along each stage of the care continuum in order to achieve better outcomes for all people living with HIV and reach all of the Strategy’s goals. Helping people living with HIV to navigate the treatment cascade is a shared responsibility of federal, state, and local governments; healthcare providers; community groups; faith communities; people living with HIV; and others.

These videos can be helpful tools in educating partners and allies about this important charge. Both videos provide a brief overview of HIV in the United States and illustrate how improvements along each step of the treatment cascade are vital to advancing us toward an AIDS-free generation.

Additional Spanish Language Resources

To support health departments, community organizations, healthcare providers, and other partners, HIV.gov provides a quick reference directory to Spanish language HIV/AIDS resources available from agencies across the federal government on our Recursos en español page.

How could you use these videos or resources to strengthen your work in reaching Spanish-speaking individuals and/or focusing on how to improve the treatment cascade in your community? Tell us in the Comments section below.Please note that featuring this video on blog section does not constitute an endorsement by either HIV.gov or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the private entity’s activities, products, or services.