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AIDS Epidemic Could End By 2030, Says UN Official

Let's hope the UN isn't getting ahead of itself:  Because of progress being made in the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, United Nations officials are projecting that the AIDS epidemic could be finished in the next 20 years.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="322"] A statistic from unaids.com.[/caption]

Luis Loures, a deputy executive director of UNAIDS said, “I think that 2030 is a viable target to say that we have reached the end of the epidemic ... We can get to the end of the epidemic because we have treatments and ways to control the infection ... We are making progress, without a doubt.”

UNAIDS reports that the current rate of new HIV/AIDS infections are at three million a year with the death toll at 1.7 million a year.  But with advancing medical technologies and treatment strategies, and with the annual cost of medicine for HIV/AIDS going from $19,000 to $150, these numbers are sure to fall.

In fact, this drop has already started, and rates of infection have fallen somewhere between 20-50% globally in the past decade.

Loures warns us, however, that the challenge now remains in getting vulnerable groups like sex workers and stigmatized or persecuted populations to seek treatment.

Optimistically, Loures concludes, “Today, there are a number of cases where we have evidence of a cure and that gives us great hope."

h/t: Inquirer News

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