In the midst of news surrounding the Trump administration’s plan to eradicate HIV/AIDS in the United States by 2030, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that the annual decline in new HIV transmission rates has leveled off.
What does this mean for plans to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic?
Experts say that the spotlight directed by the government coupled with gains made in prevention resources over the past decade signify a clear path forward to progress.
That being said, they stress significantly more needs to be done to make an HIV/AIDS-free future anything close to being a reality. Essentially, the current approach hasn’t worked.
“Right now, we have the tools to end the epidemic,” Dr. Ronald G. Collman, director of the Penn Center for AIDS Research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, told Healthline. “But we have to keep addressing how people have access to prevention and care, and the structures in our healthcare systems and communities both facilitate and make it difficult for people to get care, treatment and prevention – that is really how we need to focus our efforts.”