September 24, 2013 | Health Matters

Will AIDS/HIV epidemic be over by 2030?

Dr Luis Loures, the Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS, the United Nations’ HIV/AIDS agency, thinks the AIDS epidemic could be over by 2030.

“I think that 2030 is a viable target to say that we have reached the end of the epidemic,” Dr Loures said during an interview with Agence France Presse this week. “HIV will continue existing as a case here or there but not at the epidemic level we have today.”

Loures argued that advances in treatment will make all the difference, not only helping people with the disease live longer, healthier lives, but also limiting the spread of the illness.

“We can get to the end of the epidemic because we have treatments and ways to control the infection,” Dr Loures continued. “We are making progress, without a doubt.”

According to UNAIDS, the current rate of new HIV/AIDS infections are at three million a year with the death toll of about 1.7 million a year. The numbers seem to be declining, with rates of infection falling between 20-50% globally in the past decade.

Loures argued the biggest challenge is getting vulnerable groups - such as men who have sex with men and sex workers - to seek testing and treatment.

United Nations Celebrates ‘Dramatic Progress’ In The Global Fight Against AIDS [Think Progress]

‘Dramatic’ progress in fight against AIDS, UN reports [Globe and Mail]