|
The AIDS advocacy group AVAC says 2013 will be a critical year for ending the epidemic. The group has released its annual report that calls for an ambitious pace of funding, implementation and research. The latest HIV/AIDS figures showed there were 2.5-million new infections in 2011, the lowest number ever. But only 1.4 million people were added to treatment programs. AVAC Executive Director Mitchell Warren said with the right action, the world could reach a “tipping point” in the epidemic. “We have over the last 18 months or so seen for the first time consensus-building around the idea that ending the AIDS epidemic is actually possible. We need to see those lines cross, where more people get on treatment than actually get newly infected. That is going to be a tipping point that tells us that we are truly beginning to end the epidemic,” he said. However, he said that milestone can only be reached if efforts move a lot faster, starting now. “This idea of ending the epidemic, or of an AIDS-free generation – it’s a tantalizing idea. It’s not going to happen easily though. Ending this epidemic is still a very long-term prospect. And it’s going to require some really hard decisions, and it’s going to require making some really strategic choices,” he said. The AVAC report – Achieving the End: One Year and Counting -- calls for a three-part agenda for ending AIDS: Deliver, Demonstrate and Develop. | 
