To keep pace with emerging public health challenges and to address the leading causes of death and disability, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiated an effort to achieve measurable impact quickly in a few targeted areas that affect the nation's health. CDC's Winnable Battles are public health priorities with large-scale impact on health and with known, effective strategies to address them. Each area is a leading cause of illness, injury, disability, or death, and/or represents enormous societal costs.1
The Winnable Battles were chosen based on the magnitude of the health problems and the ability to make significant progress in improving outcomes. The public health community can make significant progress in reducing health disparities and the overall health burden from these diseases and conditions in a relatively short timeframe – generally within one to four years – by identifying priority strategies and clear targets and working closely with public health partners.2
CDC has identified HIV in the U.S. as a Winnable Battle. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in the United Sates affects over 1 million people. Each year there are more than 50,000 newly infected individuals. HIV infection destroys the immune system, weakening a person’s ability to fight diseases.3 HIV gradually attacks immune system cells, progressively damaging these cells which causes the body to become more vulnerable to infections. It is at the point of very advanced HIV infection that a person is said to have AIDS.4 Medical treatment for an individual infected with HIV consists of antiretroviral therapy (ART) which costs around $400,000 over the lifetime of treatment.5
TRAIN, the nation’s premier learning management system for professionals and volunteers who protect the public’s health, offers state, local, national, or international trainings that public health professionals can utilize in fighting HIV in the U.S. To find out more about HIV prevention, HIV testing, legal issues surrounding HIV, and bloodborne pathogen standards, register for courses such as HIV, Get the Basics, Public Health Live - What's New in HIV/AIDS?, HIV/AIDS Professional Education in KY....Making It Count, or HIV OraSure Testing Instructions to name a few.
Create a free TRAIN account today and learn what you can do to prevent HIV/AIDS in your community.
For more resources on HIV, visit the Public Health Foundation’s (PHF) Learning Resource Center to find high quality training materials and use the Public Health Improvement Resource Center for online tools. For evidence-based findings and recommendations from the Task Force on Community Preventive Services pertaining to HIV/AIDS please visit the Community Guide’s HIV website.