A new report “HIV Prevention: From Crisis to Opportunity”, shows that HIV incidence continues to decline faster in countries that are members of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC) than in the rest of the world.
In order to reach its goal of providing effective combination prevention options to 95% of those at risk of contracting HIV, the GPC is a coalition of 38 countries collaborating to accelerate declines in new HIV infections. Since 2010, eleven countries that are focal points of the GPC have achieved an annual reduction of new HIV infections of at least 66%. In contrast, the global average decline in new HIV infections since 2010 has been 38%.
The nations comprising the GPC that have placed primary prevention and treatment as their top priorities, with an emphasis on reaching those who are most vulnerable, have achieved the most substantial and consistent reductions in new HIV infections.
The cumulative effect of combination HIV prevention options and increased access to antiretroviral treatment, which has also increased viral suppression in individuals living with HIV, has been to accelerate the decline in new HIV infections. Treatment-seeking individuals who are virally suppressed are incapable of transmitting HIV.
UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director for Programmes Angeli Achrekar said: “The findings of this report provide important reasons for action.” The report says that ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 requires sustained political leadership, investment in effective HIV prevention programmes and an enabling policy environment.
The progress made in addressing AIDS over the last two decades is truly astounding. “We must never conflate progress with a guarantee of success,” advised Mitchell Warren, co-chair of the GPC and executive director of AVAC. “Our progress is precarious, and should we succumb to complacency, our current accomplishments may vanish even more rapidly.”