AIDS campaigners say pandemic has finally reached tipping point

For the first time since the HIV virus started spreading across the globe 30 years ago, the world has reached “the beginning of the end of AIDS,” a leading campaign group said on Monday, while cautioning that further concerted efforts are needed to control the disease worldwide.

In a study to mark World AIDS Day, the advocacy group ONE Campaign reported that for the first time since the pandemic began, the number of HIV-infected people added to antiretroviral treatment in 2013 was greater than the number of people newly infected with the deadly virus.

UNAIDS, the United Nations AIDS agency, says that by June 2014, some 13.6 million people globally had access to AIDS drugs, a dramatic improvement on the 5 million who were getting treatment in 2010.

The AIDS pandemic that began more than three decades ago has killed up to 40 million people worldwide.

"We've passed the tipping point in the AIDS fight at the global level, but not all countries are there yet, and the gains made can easily stall or unravel," said Erin Hohlfelder, ONE's director of global health policy.

But ONE’s congratulatory note came with a high dose of caution. The group called for a careful evaluation of countries' needs to further combat the disease. "Despite the good news,” added Hohlfelder, “we should not take a victory lap yet."

In the United States, further efforts are needed for people with HIV to keep the virus in check, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the U.S. 70 percent of those living with HIV — or 840,000 out of 1.2 million people — are not consistently taking anti-HIV drugs that keep the virus suppressed at low levels. The trend is especially significant for young adults, where only 13 percent was taking the medication they needed to suppress the virus.

The consistent intake of anti-HIV drugs can lead to near-normal life expectancies of people living with the virus and reduce the risk of transmission with 96 percent, health experts say.

Health experts say U.S. efforts to control the disease have fallen particularly short among the country’s gay and bisexual men of color. In southern states, 68 more black residents are diagnosed with the virus than whites per samples of 100,000 people, according to a Duke University report.

Connecting these patients to health care also appears problematic, according to Tim Horn, HIV project director at the advocacy organization Treatment Action Group (TAG). 

“The problem is we’re still seeing a big drop in the number of people who actually make the link to HIV-care,” Horn said. “Diagnosis is only half the battle.”

In southern states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, where access to affordable health care is more limited and the supply of medical care providers is insufficient, HIV infections are burgeoning, according to TAG's Horn. Nearly half of all new HIV infections are registered in southern states, while the region only accounts for 37 percent of the U.S. population, according to the report.

“We are not a country that is very well acclimated to taking care of our young or poor community members. They simply don’t have access to key services they need,” he said.

With Reuters and additional reporting by Lisa De Bode.