Share this: 
At the end of 2025, 42,383 people in Illinois were living with HIV. According to the CDC, about 13 percent of people with HIV don’t know their status. That means that at the same time around 5,500 Illinoisans had HIV but were not receiving the care and services that they deserve.
The overall number of HIV positive Illinois residents has been decreasing as individuals learn their HIV positive status and take steps to prevent infecting others. While this progress is occurring, infections among gay and bisexual men are still high.
In keeping with the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, Illinois is working to reduce new infections and provide treatment to persons living with HIV, especially within the gay and bisexual African-American and Hispanic communities in which health disparities exist.
Encouraging HIV testing is an important aspect of both reducing infections and bringing treatment to persons living with HIV. When unaware of their HIV infection, individuals can spread HIV to others through unprotected sex, intravenous drug use or other ways. In addition, undiagnosed individuals do not receive the benefit of medical treatments that can slow the progression of HIV infection into AIDS and help prevent other infections.
To reduce the percentage of HIV positive individuals who remain undiagnosed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all individuals aged 13-64 be tested for HIV infection. The state of Illinois has adopted the CDC’s recommendation as law. Now medical providers can include HIV testing in routine lab work without a separate consent form and those wishing not to be tested can choose to decline or opt-out.
Once these individuals are diagnosed, Illinois HIV Care Connect helps them to enroll and find the case management, health care and support services they need to achieve optimal health and self-sufficiency.
Illinois HIV Care Connect builds upon other statewide HIV programs recognized for their efforts to reduce HIV infection. For example, the CDC recognized the Illinois Perinatal HIV Prevention Act, which requires Illinois providers to conduct prenatal HIV testing of pregnant women and newborn HIV testing. If tested positive for HIV within 24 hours after birth, newborns are given antiretroviral medication for up to six weeks; this medication has decreased newborn HIV infection in Illinois by 99%. A role model for other states wishing to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission, Illinois is one of only a few states to provide this safety net. Learn more at the Illinois Perinatal HIV Hotline website.