Hope for 'end of Aids' is disappearing, experts warn
The Guardian - "Those fighting epidemic say 2030 target is unrealistic as efforts to defeat it falter amid rising infection levels and drug resistance. Efforts to combat Aids in Africa are seriously faltering, with drugs beginning to lose their power, the number of infections rising and funding declining, raising the prospect of the epidemic once more spiralling out of control, experts have warned.
(...) Prof Peter Piot, the first executive director of UNAIDS and director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Guardian: “I don’t believe the slogan ‘the end of Aids by 2030’ is realistic and it could be counterproductive. It could suggest that it’s fine, it’s all over and we can move to something else. No. Aids is still one of the biggest killers in the world.”
(...) There had been hope that treating people would stop the spread, but studies are beginning to show that “test and treat” – putting people on drugs as soon as they test positive for HIV to prevent them being infectious – may not work. Many people do not want to take medication until they become ill. Piot believes that drugs will not stop Aids and that cultural change, which is far harder to bring about, will be necessary." (Photo: aidsfocus.ch 2010)