New studies show that there is a demonstrable correlation between a person's housing status and his or her likelihood of transmitting or getting HIV.
The groundbreaking research from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and others has been reported in a special issue of the journal AIDS and Behavior¹.
According to researchers from the CDC, homelessness and unstable housing “increase the risk of HIV acquisition and transmission and adversely affect the health of people living with HIV.” The findings prompted the researchers to issue a call to action that “homelessness be treated as a major public health issue confronting the United States.”
The first publication of its kind, this special issue of AIDS and Behavior includes 18 peer-reviewed articles on the relationship of housing status and HIV risk and health outcomes, including a policy perspective from former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros. Research studies reported in the issue show that: