New York City’s latest HIV Surveillance Annual Report shows new HIV diagnoses inching up again, underscoring how the epidemic continues to fall hardest on Black and Latino communities despite decades of progress. In 2024, 1,791 people were newly diagnosed with HIV, a 5.4% increase from 2023, even as officials warn that “progress toward ending the HIV epidemic in New York City has slowed.”
The data expose stark racial and neighborhood inequities. Among those newly diagnosed, 44% were Black and 41% were Latino, and 42% lived in high- or very high-poverty ZIP codes at the time of diagnosis, reinforcing how HIV risk tracks with race, income, housing and access to care. “Our health outcomes in New York City remain inequitable across race and ethnicity, neighborhood and income, and HIV is no exception,” said Acting Health Commissioner Michelle Morse, MD, MPH.
Structural barriers drive those gaps. The health department cites “poverty, homelessness or housing instability, lack of adequate health insurance or employment and unmet supportive service needs” as conditions that heighten HIV risk, alongside stigma, discrimination and missed opportunities for prevention in clinical settings. While use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has increased 14-fold since 2014, uptake remains lower among women, people ages 20 to 29, and Black and Latino residents, revealing uneven access to one of the most effective prevention tools.
Those disparities collide with looming cuts. The article reports that federal leaders are pursuing reductions that could strip New York City of $41 million in HIV funding, threatening prevention, testing and treatment programs that communities of color disproportionately rely on to stay healthy.
See: “New York City Reports Continuing Uptick in New HIV Cases, Warns of Budget Cuts” (December 12, 2025)
