Nearly 30 years into the AIDS pandemic, we are still struggling to contain and turn the tide of this infection, but we are finally within sight of an AIDS-free generation. About 36.9 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide but recent scientific breakthrough and better understanding of how to best approach this pandemic is finally paying off.
Worldwide, collaborative approaches from agencies like the CDC and PEPFAR, to name just a couple, have resulted in increase access to antiretroviral therapy for 13.5 million individuals in low and middle income countries. Strategies have aggressively focused on decreasing mother-to-child transmission as well as reaching to children orphaned from the disease. The effort have paid off with new HIV infections dropping by 35% since 2000, while new pediatric infections have dropped by 58% in the same time.
Here in the US, 1.8 million individuals are living with HIV/AIDS, but unfortunately 1 in 8 does not know it. Being part of the generation that saw the stigmatization of this disease, I appreciate the changes that have occurred in the past 25 years. Unfortunately, there is still widespread misunderstanding of this infection and the stigma is still there, resulting in people not getting tested consistently. And while the number of new HIV cases has remained fairly stable, African Americans remain disproportionately affected by the infection with African American women and adolescents’ new infection rate being 20 times that of Caucasian women and 5 times that of Hispanic/ latino women.
The good news is that we have more tools at our disposal, such PreP (or pre-exposure prophylaxis) which can decrease the likelihood of transmission by more than 90%. We are also continuing to invest into research about treatment and prevention of HIV as well as community education to increase the number of individuals who get tested as well as decrease the stigma attached to the HIV/AIDS.
So what can you do?
- Get tested! It’s simple and though daunting, it’s a vital information.
- Become an advocate for your community, organize a “Get Tested” drive, participate in an awareness walk. You don’t have to wait for December 1st to be an advocate for your community
- Talk to the young adults and adolescents in your life. The more they know, the smarter their choices
- Talk to your partner! Get tested together.
- Talk to your partner and be honest about your sexuality and your sexual history. It is a gamble worth taking.