Across the United States, HIV infections are falling overall — but for Latino communities, the epidemic is intensifying in ways experts now describe as a “cascading disaster” of health inequity. From 2010 to 2022, estimated annual new HIV infections dropped 19% nationwide, yet rose 12% among Latinos, revealing a stark and worsening racial divide in who benefits from prevention and treatment advances.
The disparities are especially severe for Latino men who have sex with men (MSM). While MSM overall saw a 15% decline in estimated annual HIV infections, Latino MSM experienced a 24% increase, and among those aged 25 to 34, infections surged an estimated 95%. These widening gaps underscore what the article calls a national failure of HIV systems to meet the needs of Latino communities, even as avoidable deaths and new infections are prevented
Researchers identify three intertwined forces driving this inequity: Latino invisibility, false narratives, and societal inaction. Aside from immigration debates, Latinos remain underrepresented in media and public discourse, including coverage of their health needs. At the same time, harmful rhetoric portraying Latinos as “taking more than they contribute,” together with anti-immigrant and de facto anti-Latino policies, fuels fear and distrust and directly undermines access to HIV prevention and treatment.
Despite a well-documented crisis, the national response has lagged, and effective, large-scale programs created by and for Latinos have not been funded or implemented. In response, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing’s Center for Latino Adolescent and Family Health has launched a new “Cascading Disaster” microsite and video to raise awareness, highlight lived experiences, and offer evidence-informed tools to help end the Latino HIV crisis.
See: “From Crisis to Cascading Disaster: Invisibility, False Narratives, Societal Inaction Drive Silently Worsening U.S. Latino HIV Epidemic” (November 26, 2025)
