AIDS Will Be Under Control By 2030:UN Says

The UN said it's possible to wipe off AIDS by 2030 in all regions and countries as new HIV infections and related deaths have decreased.

The report from United Nation says the number of people affected by HIV has stabilized to around 35 million worldwide. Around 39 million people were killed and 78 million people have been infected by this epidemic since the early 1980's.

"The AIDS epidemic can be ended in every region, every country, in every location, in every population and every community. There are multiple reasons why there is hope and conviction about this goal," said Michel Sidibe, the director of UNAIDS, reports Reuters. The UNAIDs report was launched ahead of the AIDS conference to be held in Australia next week.

AIDS is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus that is transmitted through blood, breast milk and by semen. The available drug for this epidemic is known as antiretroviral therapy (ART)

According to UNAIDS, by the end of 2013 around 12.9 million HIV positive patients had access to the antiretroviral therapy which helped to improve lives of 10 million patient who were on treatment. In 2010, only 5 million patients had access to the drug; this shows a drastic improvement in the treatment provided and gives a hope for cure.

The UNAIDS record reveals, since 2001 there has been a fall of 38 percent in HIV infections and 35 percent fall in death rates. This has resulted in a huge decline in ill health, stigma, death and also in the number of AIDS orphans. The Aids effort garnered around $19 billion by 2013 and the estimates are that the need will go up to $24 billion by 2015

"We have a fragile five-year window to build on the rapid results that been made, if we accelerate all HIV scale-up by 2020, we will be on track to end the epidemic by 2030. If not, we risk significantly increasing the time it would take - adding a decade, if not more." said Michel Sidibe, the director of UNAIDS.

If the epidemic could be controlled by 2030 then 18 million new HIV infections and 11.2 million AIDS death would be reduced between 2013 and 2030. Early treatment controls the infection and new guide lines have been established by the UN body, which now has expanded the treatment to an additional 10 million people.

"Providing life-saving HIV treatment to nearly 12 million people in the developing world is a significant achievement, but more than half of people in need still do not have access,". "We know that early treatment helps prevent transmission of HIV and keeps people healthy; we need to respond to HIV in all contexts and make treatment accessible to everyone in need as soon as possible." says Jennifer Cohn, medical director of the access campaign for the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).