Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told an audience of mostly legislative aides to members of Congress at a Dec. 5 congressional briefing on Capitol Hill that scientific advances have made it possible to end the HIV epidemic in the United States within the next decade if not much sooner.
In an impassioned description of what he calls “implementation science,” Fauci said he and his colleagues at the National Institute of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other federal, state, and local health agencies are hopeful that a newly launched federal plan to end HIV will be able to overcome socio-economic barriers that have prevented the scientific advances from reaching those who could most benefit from them.
The briefing, held at the Rayburn House Office Building across the street from the U.S. Capitol, was organized by the National Minority AIDS Council, or NMAC, a D.C.-based AIDS advocacy group that puts on the annual U.S. Conference on AIDS. Fauci said his presentation was based on findings and information presented at the 2019 U.S. Conference on AIDS in August.