Less than half of all Latinos diagnosed with HIV are receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This finding is included in an analysis of data from the National HIV Surveillance System the CDC published last week in anticipation of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, October 15.

“Latinos represent 17 percent of the U.S. population, and remain one of the populations hardest hit by HIV in the United States, accounting for 21 percent of new HIV infections,” Eugene McCray, MD, director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said in an October 9 press release. “Although we now have more HIV prevention tools at our disposal than ever before, new CDC data released today clearly show that one of our most powerful tools for protecting people’s health and preventing new infections—HIV treatment—isn’t making its way to most Latinos who need it.”

Latinos fare poorly along the various steps of the “treatment cascade,” as the process is called: While a relatively healthy 80.3 percent of those diagnosed with HIV are promptly linked to care, 54.4 percent are retained in care, 44.4 percent have been prescribed ARVs and 36.9 percent have a fully suppressed viral load.

To read the CDC press release, click here.

To read the full text of the CDC’s analysis, click here.