The state of the epidemic
The world has made huge progress against the HIV epidemic in the 30 years since AIDS was first identified - new infections have fallen by 19% since 1999 and nearly 7 million people are on anti-retroviral treatment, more than a tenfold increase over five years.
But significant challenges remain. There are more than 33 million people living with HIV with no cure or vaccine in sight. And there are over 7,400 new HIV infections every day - two for every person put on treatment. Stigma and discrimination remain huge barriers to public action.
A recommitment to defeat HIV and AIDS
In June 2011, countries meeting at a United Nations summit in New York adopted ambitious new targets to defeat HIV and AIDS, with the aim of ridding the world of the disease that has claimed more than 30 million lives since it was first reported three decades ago.
The historic declaration included a recommitment to universal access and a recognition that prevention must be at the heart of the response. It contains clear, measurable goals to 2015, including:
- to halve sexual transmission of HIV
- to ensure that by 2015 no child will be born with HIV
- to increase universal access to anti-retroviral therapy
- to get 15 million people onto life-saving treatment
- to halve tuberculosis deaths in people living with HIV by 50%
- and to reduce HIV transmission among intravenous drug users by 50%.
Making zero HIV a reality
The main focus of the UK's plans moving forward will be reducing new HIV infections among women and girls, ending paediatric AIDS, and addressing the TB epidemic - the leading cause of death among people living with HIV. Our position paper on HIV - Towards zero infections - sets out our continuing commitment to the goals of universal access by 2015.
We will tackle the global HIV epidemic by:
Significantly reducing infections: We will concentrate our efforts where they are needed most, particularly in Africa, focusing our HIV programmes in fewer countries where we can have the greatest impact and working through partners elsewhere. Globally, AIDS is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age; and, in sub-Saharan Africa, young women aged 15-24 years are as much as eight times more likely than men to be HIV positive.
Increasing access to HIV and TB diagnosis, treatment, care and support: Britain will work with the pharmaceutical industry to get even more people on life saving treatment. We will drive down costs for medicines, securing lower prices and better value for money in order to increase access, making sure we spend every penny in the best way possible. Our work with the Clinton Health Access Initiative to lower the price of the drug tenofovir will generate enough cost-savings to buy medicines for an additional 500,000 people by 2015.
Tackling stigma and investing in research: We will work with groups including Harm Reduction International to help them tackle policies which deny access to treatment and care for those living with HIV and AIDS. We have finalised a new research programme with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to understand better the underlying drivers of HIV and find innovative solutions.