Closing the Gap: Finding the “Difficult to Find” Individuals 2026

About this program

Despite decades of progress in HIV testing and treatment, a substantial number of individuals living with HIV remain undiagnosed, untreated, or disconnected from care.

These “difficult to find” populations—often marginalized by stigma, poverty, geographic isolation, criminalization, or systemic inequities—represent a critical gap in our national response to the HIV epidemic. Reaching them is not only a moral imperative but a public health necessity.

To end the HIV epidemic, we must achieve equity in care and ensure viral suppression across all communities. This requires focused, intentional strategies to identify and engage those consistently left behind.

A dedicated meeting, such as Closing the Gap, is urgently needed to convene diverse stakeholders—community leaders, researchers, public health officials, and implementers—to tackle this challenge collectively.

Through the sharing of innovative outreach strategies, identification of data and service gaps, and development of aligned policy and practice approaches, Closing the Gap fosters the human-centered, collaborative responses needed to find and support these individuals. Without this focused effort, national goals for HIV elimination will remain out of reach.

The time to act is now—closing the gap is essential to closing the epidemic.