HIV care and treatment are critical to maintaining the physical health of people living with HIV and preventing new infections. Although HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) have better health outcomes than do other HIV transmission-risk groups, there are also lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender subpopulations that may experience significant psychosocial and structural barriers [Page 533]to HIV treatment and care. Such barriers are disproportionately prevalent among youth as well as gender and racial/ethnic minorities.

The HIV care continuum is a model that is used by federal, state, and local agencies to identify issues and opportunities related to improving service delivery to people living with HIV (PLWH). The continuum has four steps, including HIV diagnosis, linkage and retention in HIV medical care, the uptake of ...