HIV in Florida
Care, Connection & Community

By the Numbers

Florida is home to one of the largest HIV epidemics in the United States. The Florida Department of Health’s dashboard reports 132,444 people living with diagnosed HIV in 2024, 4,463 HIV diagnoses that year, and 569 HIV-related deaths. These are surveillance counts, not a count of everyone with HIV, because people whose HIV has not been diagnosed are not included.1

Seven Florida counties are designated Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) priority jurisdictions: Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Duval, and Pinellas. Together they illustrate why prevention and treatment need to be planned locally, as well as statewide.2

The statewide HIV diagnosis rate in 2024 was 19.4 per 100,000 residents. Counts and rates vary by county, and surveillance totals can be revised as records are updated. The state dashboard and FLHealthCHARTS data viewer provide current county comparisons.25

Florida In Focus: Find Your Region

Care and community should be within reach wherever you live—from the Panhandle and rural inland counties to the Atlantic coast, Southwest Florida and the Keys. Open a region below for three or four starting points. These are selected resources, not a ranking or a complete directory.

All 67 counties appear once in these ten browsing groups. They are not official Ryan White service boundaries: an organization may serve only part of a region or work across several. Confirm your county, eligibility, costs, language needs and appointment availability before traveling. The Florida Department of Health’s county partnership areas provide the official surveillance geography.

Don’t see your community? Start with the Care Locator or the Florida HIV/AIDS Hotline at 800-352-2437 for local referrals and support-group connections. Your nearest clinic may also know about transportation, remote visits and services in a neighboring county.

Regional service links checked October 1, 2026. Organization pages linked above describe their own services; programs and funding can change. Suggest an organization or correction →

Support, Belonging & Ways to Show Up

You may be looking for a clinician, a conversation with someone who understands, or a way to help your community. Those are different needs, and all are valid. You do not have to share your HIV status publicly to ask an organization about support.

Who Is Most Affected

HIV in Florida does not affect all communities equally. The state’s surveillance report documents substantial differences by race, ethnicity, age, and geography. These patterns are a reason to examine access to prevention and care; surveillance counts alone do not establish why an individual acquired HIV.^[4]

Race and Ethnicity

In the state’s published 2023 report, Black residents represented approximately 43 percent of people living with diagnosed HIV, Hispanic/Latino residents about 28 percent, and White residents about 27 percent. Among adults diagnosed in that report, approximately 45 percent were Black, 33 percent Hispanic/Latino, and 21 percent White. These figures describe that report’s historical snapshot, not 2024 totals.4

Gender and Transmission

Male-to-male sexual contact was the largest reported exposure category in Florida’s 2023 adult diagnosis table. Heterosexual contact accounted for about 38 percent of adult diagnoses in that table (1,777 of 4,719). Women and people of all genders need access to HIV testing, prevention, and care.^[11]

Age and Aging

Florida’s 2023 report lists 72,873 people aged 50 or older among 128,387 adults living with diagnosed HIV—about 57 percent. Age alone does not show how long someone has had HIV. Care for older adults can include heart, kidney, bone, cognitive, and mental health alongside HIV treatment. Younger people also need timely prevention and testing.^[4]

Immigrants and HIV in Florida

Florida’s immigrant communities include people from many parts of Latin America, the Caribbean, and elsewhere. Experiences with healthcare, language, insurance, and immigration systems vary widely. Country of birth does not establish a person’s HIV status, health knowledge, or need for care.

The Haitian Community

A Miami clinic study published by Saint-Jean and colleagues in 2011 surveyed 96 Haitian immigrants living with HIV. About three-quarters had not completed high school and reported annual income of $5,000 or less; 79 percent had attended at least four HIV primary-care visits in the previous year. Less education and greater psychological distress were associated with less regular care. This was a small, historical clinic sample, not a current description of all Haitian Floridians.5

The Center for Haitian Studies describes its work in Little Haiti/Little River as including primary care, mental health, and health education for underserved residents. Ask the organization directly about current HIV services, language support, eligibility, and fees.26

Caribbean-Born Black Immigrants

Cyrus and colleagues’ 2017 analysis examined Florida residents diagnosed with HIV during 2000–2014. Caribbean-born Black participants had poorer retention and viral-suppression outcomes than the comparison groups overall. In adjusted comparisons with non-Hispanic White residents, participants born in the Bahamas, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago had higher odds of both non-retention and non-suppression. The study identifies disparities; it does not show that country of birth itself causes them.6

Fear as a Barrier

Florida’s 2023 SB 1718 created hospital immigration-status data collection. Under section 395.3027, hospitals accepting Medicaid must ask the question, but patients may decline to answer. Forms must state that the response will not affect care or result in a report of immigration status to immigration authorities; hospitals submit aggregate counts. Those statutory safeguards should be explained clearly to patients.27

Federal public-charge policy also changed. USCIS announced that rescission of the 2022 regulation would take effect September 18, 2026; it is no longer merely a proposal. Benefit eligibility and immigration admissibility are separate questions, and rules depend on the person and application. An immigration lawyer can assess the specific situation before someone changes needed care.28 Separately, the KFF/New York Times 2025 national survey found that 29 percent of immigrant adults had skipped or postponed healthcare, compared with 22 percent in 2023. That survey finding is not proof that one policy caused the change.7

Migrant Farmworkers

Agricultural workers may face transportation, work-schedule, housing, and language barriers when seeking care. HRSA’s National Advisory Council on Migrant Health has documented transportation needs and recommended stronger support. Health centers include programs serving migratory and seasonal agricultural workers; ask a local center or case manager about testing, prevention, and continuing treatment.29

What Immigrants Should Know

The Latino Community and HIV in Florida

Florida’s published 2023 report recorded 1,545 HIV diagnoses among Hispanic/Latino residents—about one-third of that year’s total—and 35,875 Hispanic/Latino residents living with diagnosed HIV, about 28 percent. These historical figures describe a diverse set of communities.^[4]

Nationally, the picture is even more striking. Between 2018 and 2022, HIV diagnoses among Hispanic/Latino people in the United States increased 17 percent. CDC points to poverty, migration patterns, educational level, and language barriers as forces that make it harder for some Hispanic/Latino people to reach HIV testing, treatment, and prevention care8. Among Hispanic/Latino men nationally, about 87 percent of HIV diagnoses in 2022 were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact23.

Florida Is Not Monolithic

“Latino” does not describe a single community. In a study of Florida diagnoses during 2007–2011, researchers found higher odds of late diagnosis among men born in Mexico or Central America than among U.S.-born Latino men. That study defined late diagnosis as AIDS within three months of HIV diagnosis. Its findings identify testing gaps in a historical cohort; they do not establish that every affected person had never used healthcare.30

In Florida specifically, the Latino community includes large populations from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina — each with different cultural relationships to healthcare, sexuality, stigma, and HIV.

Cultural Barriers

HIV stigma can intersect with stigma about sexual orientation and gender. Research with Latino sexual and gender minority communities in Miami has examined minority stress, mistrust, language, and confidentiality concerns. These experiences vary among people and communities; providers should ask about the barriers each person faces.^[15]

People experiencing partner violence or economic dependence may need confidential support to discuss testing, prevention, or treatment. Care should leave room for those concerns without assuming them from someone’s ethnicity or gender.

Faith may be a source of support for some people and a source of conflict or stigma for others. Respectful HIV education can invite people to discuss their beliefs and concerns without making assumptions about a whole religion or community.

Language and Access

Ask clinics whether they provide qualified interpreters in the language you prefer, including indigenous languages. Availability can vary by provider. A bilingual staff member is not always an interpreter, and the absence of an interpreter should be raised with the care team.

Translation is only one part of communication. Clinicians should explain viral load, CD4 count, U=U, and PrEP in clear language and check understanding. Prior knowledge varies from person to person, including among people born in the same country.

Bright Spots

Florida providers including Care Resource and Borinquen Medical Centers offer HIV services. Community health workers and care navigators can help people connect with testing and treatment. Ask each provider about current language support, appointments, and eligibility.

LGBTQ+ Communities and HIV in Florida

Gay and bisexual men, transgender people, LGBTQ+ youth, and the organizations serving them are central to Florida’s HIV response. Surveillance, healthcare access, and education policy all matter. The figures below distinguish population groups, reporting years, and the limits of the cited studies.

Gay and Bisexual Men

In Florida’s 2023 report, male-to-male sexual contact accounted for about 55 percent of all adult diagnoses (2,619 of 4,719), not 55 percent of male diagnoses. The combined male-to-male-contact/injection-drug-use category added 69 diagnoses, about 1.5 percent. Nationally, CDC reports 65 percent of all 2024 diagnoses in the United States and seven territories/freely associated states in the male-to-male-contact category. The separate 81-percent figure cited by AIDSVu is among males in 2023. These percentages have different years and denominators.111213

Miami-Dade’s health department provides county HIV surveillance resources. For a separate view of barriers to prevention, Metheny and colleagues’ 2025 paper describes lessons from research with 161 HIV-negative Latino sexual and gender minority participants recruited in Miami-Dade during 2022–2023. It emphasizes trusted community partnerships, clear language, and confidentiality. It does not establish countywide PrEP coverage percentages.1415

Transgender Floridians

CDC reported that transgender people accounted for about 2 percent of U.S. HIV diagnoses in 2022, with most among transgender women. Gender identity and exposure category are different surveillance variables, and incomplete reporting can limit comparisons. Fennie and colleagues’ Florida study examined people already diagnosed with HIV during 2006–2014, including 142 transgender women. It found disparities in late diagnosis after adjustment; it did not estimate that 28 percent of transgender women in Florida had HIV.1617

Florida’s 2023 SB 254 imposed restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors and adults. In 2024, the district court blocked challenged provisions in Doe v. Ladapo; an August 2024 appellate stay allowed restrictions to be enforced while the appeal proceeded. The linked litigation update describes that order, rather than establishing the outcome of every later proceeding. Ask a current provider or legal-support organization about rules affecting a particular service. For people living with HIV, care teams should coordinate HIV treatment with other healthcare needs.18

LGBTQ+ Youth

Florida law restricts classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in prekindergarten through grade 8, with statutory exceptions for specified health education. This is a restriction on instruction, not a blanket statement that students may never discuss LGBTQ+ people. AHF warned in 2022 about potential consequences for HIV education; that warning is not a study measuring later outcomes. In May 2025, local reporting described funding losses affecting Central Florida LGBTQ+ programs, including approximately $250,000 intended for Zebra Youth.192021

Community Anchors

Florida’s LGBTQ+ community organizations do work the state does not. In Miami, Pridelines offers HIV testing, STI screening and PrEP/PEP navigation through pharmacy partners, alongside counseling and youth programs. In Broward County, SunServe offers affirming mental health counseling, housing assistance and case management, support groups, and youth and family services.22 Latinos Salud, with locations in Broward and Miami-Dade, offers bilingual health navigation and Ryan White case management. In Central Florida, the LGBT+ Center Orlando runs rapid HIV testing and connects people to care, while Zebra Youth and the broader Zebra Coalition serve LGBTQ+ young people ages 13–24 — including those experiencing homelessness. These organizations are how the numbers move.

The Policy Landscape

Florida's HIV epidemic cannot be separated from the policy choices that shape it. Some of these policies directly affect care access; others create a broader environment that determines whether people feel safe seeking help.

Medicaid Non-Expansion

Florida has not adopted the ACA Medicaid expansion. Some low-income adults do not qualify for traditional Medicaid and also earn too little for Marketplace premium tax credits. That coverage gap does not mean HIV care is necessarily unavailable: Ryan White and ADAP may help eligible people obtain services and medications.9

ADAP: 2026 Changes and Current Assistance

Florida ADAP changed in 2026. The Department of Health now lists direct medication assistance for eligible uninsured people at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty level, and says Biktarvy and Descovy returned to the formulary July 1, 2026. Medication copay assistance is also available to qualifying insured clients. Insurance-premium assistance has not been restored. Contact your case manager or ADAP at 844-381-2327 to confirm your pathway.31 RiseUpToHIV also organized an Online Day of Action; according to the site’s own campaign record, it reached more than 176,000 people. Read more on our Policy page.

HIV Criminalization

Florida section 384.24(2) prohibits sexual intercourse when a person knows they have HIV and has been informed that it may be communicated through intercourse, unless the other person has been informed and consents. The statute does not make an undetectable viral load a categorical defense. U=U remains established science for sexual transmission; legal requirements are a separate issue. Enforcement research has documented disproportionate impacts on Black Floridians and sex workers. Read our Florida criminalization analysis.32

Sex Education

Florida’s section 1003.46 requires abstinence-focused instruction when schools teach human sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases, and requires state approval of instructional materials. The statute is evidence of the required framework; it does not measure how much each student knows about condoms, PrEP, testing, or HIV transmission.33

Finding Care in Florida

Florida has HIV clinics, Ryan White providers, and HRSA-supported health centers. HRSA describes health centers as providing care in underserved communities, including dedicated programs for agricultural workers and people experiencing homelessness. Services, fees, funding rules, and documentation vary by program; call the clinic or a Ryan White case manager to confirm what applies. Organizations including CAN Community Health, AHF, and Care Resource provide HIV services in Florida. ADAP offers medication assistance for people who meet its requirements.24

The problem is not always that care does not exist. It is that people do not know it exists, do not know they are eligible, are afraid to access it, or cannot physically get to it. That is why we built the Care Locator — to make finding care as simple as possible.

If you or someone you know is living with HIV in Florida and needs help connecting to care, you can also reach us directly at info@riseuptohiv.com. You are not alone. Care is available. And it works.