Can the world have AIDS under control by 2030? The UN thinks it’s possible.
The claim: According to the UN, new HIV infections and deaths from AIDS are decreasing, which means it could be possible to bring the epidemic under control by 2030, and eventually end it “in every region, in every country”.
What the claim is based on: The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS can be transmitted via blood, breast milk and by semen during sex, but can be kept in check with cocktails of drugs known as antiretroviral therapy. So, twin approaches – reduce the number of new HIV infections, and get those who are HIV-positive onto antiretroviral therapy – are already showing results.
1. UNAIDS said that at the end of 2013, 12.9 million HIV-positive people had access to antiretroviral drugs – a dramatic improvement on the 10 million who were on treatment just one year earlier, and the only 5 million who were getting drugs in 2010.
2. Since 2001, new HIV infections have fallen by 38%, it said. AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 35 percent since a peak in 2005.
What it means: According to the UN report, the AIDS landscape worldwide has seen more achievements in the past five years than in the preceding 23 years.
“More than ever before, there is hope that ending AIDS is possible. However, a business-as-usual approach or simply sustaining the AIDS response at its current pace cannot end the epidemic,” said the report.
Seems that it’s time to roll out education about HIV and AIDS to a new generation and, for the first time, there may be an end in sight.
Source: New.yahoo.com