Over 3 percent of Washingtonians aged 13 and older are living with HIV/AIDS. This rate is three times what the World Health Organization classifies as an epidemic. I'm both heartbroken and enraged by the tragedy taking place in our own backyard.
By building on a strong legacy of progress and bipartisan support and relying on proven interventions and new breakthroughs, the United States is leading the world in making real the vision of an AIDS-free generation.
The EdCast has invited three HIV education specialists from UNESCO to discuss how the education sector has played an instrumental role in facilitating the drop in new infections among young people.
Both the prevention of HIV infection and the life-saving effects of antiretroviral treatment are critically important, but unfortunately there has been a tension between the allocation of resources for HIV prevention vs. those for treatment in strategies to end the pandemic.
Sadly and unbeknownst to many in the U.S., some of our fellow citizens are experiencing AIDS treatment rationing.
On this World AIDS Day -- 30 years after the first cases of HIV were reported in the U.S. and with 34 million people currently infected worldwide -- there is finally a roadmap for ending the AIDS epidemic globally and achieving an AIDS-free generation.
We must act now to better understand and address the needs and challenges of what will soon be the majority of Americans with HIV -- those over age 50.
After more than three decades of destruction, we are finally at a turning point and on a path to winning the war against HIV/AIDS.
World AIDS Day has always been bittersweet for me. On the one hand, it's a day when much of the media focuses on a global pandemic that desperately needs attention. On the other hand, it's become the only day that happens.
Dr. Sabrina Bakeera-Kitaka could have joined the thousands of medical professionals who leave Africa every year for employment opportunities in the US, Europe, and elsewhere. Instead, she stayed close to home to make a difference.
It's a time to reflect on the fact that we all have a role to play in ending the AIDS epidemic. And one of the most important ways we can stop AIDS in its tracks is simply by fighting stigma and homophobia.
Our mission is to remind the world that by reducing drug costs and increasing our commitment to treatment we can bring an end to the AIDS pandemic by 2020. What's more, we have a moral imperative to do so.
HIV/AIDS can continue to be remembered as inflicting the "single greatest reversal in human development in modern history" or as our single greatest triumph as a global community. How do you want it to be remembered?
Shouldn't we immediately ramp up access to HAART for everyone in the world who needs it? Of course we should. However, that's easier said than done. Providing universal ARV therapy globally will be expensive.
This slideshow includes images from some of our most iconic public health campaigns over our 30-year history. It is a powerful reminder of how far we've come, and that we still have a lot of work to do in realizing the day when HIV is no more.
