As federal funding for HIV prevention and treatment programs becomes less certain, the number of people newly diagnosed with the virus in the Kansas City region is trending up.
Provisional data from the Kansas City Health Department show that an 11-county region in Missouri and Kansas saw 227 new cases in 2024, up from 206 the previous year.
Sean Ryan, who oversees the department’s HIV programs, said this is the second year the number of new cases in the region has climbed.
Takeaways
- An 11-county region that spans Missouri and Kansas and includes Kansas City saw a 10% increase in new HIV infections in 2024, according to provisional data from the Kansas City Health Department.
- Federal funds support testing, prevention and other efforts to mitigate the spread of HIV. But some of that funding is at risk as the Trump administration pushes to slash health care spending.
- One grant for prevention work already was delayed, forcing the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to tell agencies expecting money that reimbursements would not be forthcoming.
The upward trend, which holds true nationally, can be traced in part to the COVID pandemic, when HIV testing and prevention programs went temporarily dormant, he said. Fewer people were screened, and since HIV symptoms can take years to show up, more people likely spread the virus unknowingly…