Preventing New HIV Infections
In fiscal year 1999, 8 percent of federal spending for HIV/AIDS was dedicated to HIV prevention.
No Time to Lose estimates that rates of new infections could be cut significantly by allocating resources to the prevention programs that offer the greatest benefit. Cost-effectiveness should be a prime consideration in funding decisions.
Laws and policies that block the use of proven strategies to prevent new infections should be abolished, the IOM report says. For example, federal, state, and local requirements that public funds be used solely for abstinence-only education programs should be eliminated. The federal government has appropriated $250 million for these programs without any evidence that they work. Yet comprehensive sex education and condom availability have been shown to reduce risky sexual behavior among adolescents, one of the groups facing a higher chance of contracting HIV. Learn more about sex education in schools.
Young people are at increasing risk from HIV/AIDS. The majority get infected through sexual transmission. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an AIDS prevention guide for young people.
Sharing contaminated needles is the primary route of HIV infection among drug users. Of the 46,400 new AIDS cases reported in 1999, injection drug use accounted for 22 percent. Federal and state barriers that limit access to sterile injection equipment -- a proven method for slowing the spread of HIV -- need to be lifted. A 1995 Research Council report called for lifting the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs.
Learn more about drug treatment programs and policies.
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