Approximately 1.2 million people in the United States are living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).  An alarming thirteen percent of this population are unaware of their HIV diagnosis and have not sought out any counseling or testing.  Since the only way to confirm an HIV diagnosis is through testing, this poses a personal and public health risk.

To address this pressing public health issue, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative in February 2020. The primary focus of this initiative is to invest critical scientific knowledge and financial resources in high-risk communities for HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of HIV/AIDS.  More specifically, one of the primary goals of this EHE Initiative is to reduce the number of HIV infections by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030.

CDC has reported that more than half of the new HIV diagnoses are concentrated in 48 counties in the United States and San Juan, Puerto Rico in the territories.  New Jersey’s Essex and Hudson Counties are among these 48 high need counties and FQHCs in those communities will play a crucial role in stemming the tide of this pandemic.