THE HIV/AIDS BUREAU: ADDRESSING THE HIV CARE CONTINUUM A Framework for care recent Initiatives

Performance measures Communities nationwide are working to improve health outcomes among people living with HIV (PLWH). This includes expanding HIV test-ing, improving active linkage to care, bolstering retention efforts, and increasing access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). These efforts are being aided by federal policies that focus attention on the HIV Care Continuum. The continuum of engagement in care (later changed to the HIV Care Continuum) was a phrase used by Dr. Laura Cheever, HRSA’s Associate Administrator for the HIV/AIDS Bureau, in her seminal 2007 editorial to describe the fluid nature of HIV health care delivery and patient ex-perience.1 Today, that concept of engaging patients and moving them along the HIV Care Continuum has received unprecedented attention and led to a federal HIV Care Continuum Initiative,2 in which the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) plays a critical part. Since 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended routine screening of HIV for everyone ages 13–64 as part of regular medical care.3 For those who test positive for HIV, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Panel on Antiret-roviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents recommends immediate initiation and lifelong adherence to ART for all adults and adolescents, regardless of CD4 count. Doing so facilitates viral suppression, longer life expectancy, and decreased risk of HIV transmission.4,