Progress and Challenges in "Getting to Zero" New HIV Infections in Miami, Florida

Miami has the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in the United States. We examined the early successes and challenges in fulfilling recommendations made by the Miami-Dade County HIV/AIDS Getting to Zero Task Force, formed by local experts in 2016.

We used a host of surveillance data, published empirical studies, public reports, and unpublished data from partners of the Task Force to evaluate progress and challenges in meeting the recommendations.

Improvements in prevention and care included routinized HIV testing in emergency departments, moving the linkage-to-care benchmark from 90 to 30 days, increased viral suppression, and awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis. However, treatment enrollment, viral suppression, and pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake remained low.

Recommendations from the Task Force provide excellent guidance for implementing evidence-based HIV prevention in Miami, yet success in achieving the recommendations will require continued or increased support in many public health sectors in South Florida.