Science, Money, Strategy, Tools, & Consequences: 5 Themes from 2018’s Most-Read Posts on the Federal Response to HIV

As 2018 draws to an end, we've been looking back at the most-viewed blog posts of the year. Our readers are interested in a variety of HIV-related topics covered here on the blog. This year, they seemed particularly interested in posts about the Federal Response to HIV, which is one of four main content areas on HIV.gov. Looking at the 100 most-viewed posts published in 2018, nearly two-thirds were about the Federal Response. Among these posts, we noticed some themes about what captured readers' attention this year:

1. Rapidly Evolving Advances in HIV Research

Readers were interested in advances in HIV research that we shared from CROI and AIDS 2018 as well as cross-posts from our colleagues at NIH and NIAID. The most-viewed post in this category was a video from NIAID that helped us all understand research underway to find an HIV cure. Other posts that garnered lots of views included:

• Posts sharing our Facebook Live video interviews about research highlights from CROI 2018. These touched on topics including contraception and ART, HIV-positive organ transplants, PrEP uptake data by race/ethnicity, new data on the risk of women acquiring HIV through sex during pregnancy the postpartum period, and moving research advances into clinical practice.
• Posts featuring our Facebook Live video interviews from the 2018 International AIDS Conference about research advances and program developments in both the domestic and global responses to HIV. Interview topics included the impact of PrEP on new HIV transmissions in the U.S., new research on the effectiveness of HIV treatment as prevention among gay male serodifferent couples, and PEPFAR's 15th anniversary. In addition, this cross-post from NIAID from AIDS 2018 ranked among the most-viewed posts: Science Validates Undetectable = Untransmittable HIV Prevention Message.

2. Progress on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Posts about our progress toward the nation's current HIV goals and plans to develop the next edition of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) were also popular with readers. Some of the most-viewed posts about the NHAS included:

• 2017 National HIV/AIDS Strategy Progress Report Released
• Viral Suppression Among Youth and People Who Inject Drugs Is Improving, But Results Are Still Below the National Average
• PrEP Prescriptions on the Rise: But More Work Remains
• Process Launched to Develop Next National HIV/AIDS Strategy and National Viral Hepatitis Action Plan

3. Infectious Disease Consequences of the Opioid Crisis

The HIV and hepatitis C risks associated with rising rates of injection drug because of the opioid crisis were also a topic of interest to our readers this year. Among the most-viewed posts were:

• Increase in Hepatitis C Infections Linked to Worsening Opioid Crisis
• Interconnected Health Problems - Integrated Solutions: Opioid Crisis and Infectious Diseases
• New CDC Resources: HIV & HCV Outbreak Detection and Response

4. Funding News

Readers were also interested in posts about funding opportunities from federal agencies and the grants that were awarded, such as these:

• 3 Funding Opportunities from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
• SAMHSA Funding Opportunity to Integrate Mental Health & Substance Abuse Disorder Treatment with HIV Primary Care and Prevention
• HUD Awards $37 Million to Renew Support to 32 Local HIV-AIDS Housing Programs

5. Tools and Resources to Support Community and Clinical HIV Responses

Posts about new HIV toolkits, educational opportunities, and other resources from federal partners were also popular with readers, such as these posts:

• New HRSA Toolkit Supports Health Centers in Expanding HIV Services
• New CDC Initiative Educates Providers about PrEP and PEP
• Toolkit Features State Strategies to Improve the Health of People with HIV

A number of these posts (and many others not listed here) were guest posts or cross-posts from our partners at agencies across the U.S. government. We're grateful to them for their collaboration as we all work to widely share information about the federal response to HIV to support stakeholders in communities across the nation.

Thanks for following HIV.gov for updates on the Federal Response to HIV this year. We look forward to continuing to share information with you in 2019 on these and other topics. Happy New Year!