yep, the epidemic lives on.

[Guest guest]

this is from the new York times:

There is progress, but not enough to keep up with the epidemic.

1.8 million people died from AIDS in 2010! Fewer than half of those needing

treatment are getting it (and this does not count those with HIV that don't even

know they have it -- they should be on treatment as well.) There were 2.7

Million new infections last year alone. HIV is still infecting people faster

than they can be tested and treated.

*** This is the full editorial article:

The latest report from the United Nations agency in charge of the global fight

against AIDS reveals substantial success by some measures and stagnation by

others. The challenge, in tough times, that must be met is to find enough

resources to capitalize on scientific breakthroughs and keep the campaign moving

forward.

The number of people dying from AIDS around the world declined for the third

year in a row, falling to 1.8 million in 2010 from a peak of 2.2 million. An

arsenal of drugs means that AIDS is no longer an automatic death sentence. And

thanks to an infusion of funds from the United States and other donors - and

hard bargaining with drug makers to bring their prices down - the number of

people being treated has soared to 6.6 million of the 14.2 million people sick

enough to need the drugs.

An equally important measure - the ability to prevent new infections - has

stagnated after substantial improvement in earlier years. Annual new infections

with the virus that causes AIDS have fallen by roughly 20 percent from the peak

in 1997 but have hit a plateau in recent years. About 2.7 million people became

newly infected last year. That was twice the number of people brought into

treatment for the first time.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recently laid out an ambitious goal to

achieve an " AIDS-free generation. " In her vision, virtually no children would be

infected by transmission from their mothers - a goal within reach. And teenagers

and adults would either be protected from infection by proven prevention

programs, such as condoms and male circumcision, or promptly treated after

infection to prevent them from becoming ill or passing the virus on to others.

New research has shown that treating infected people with drugs can reduce the

risk that they will pass on the virus by 96 percent.

Such prevention and treatment strategies are the only way to get ahead of the

epidemic. But the global economic downturn led to a collective decline in donor

assistance last year - to $7.6 billion in 2010 from $8.7 billion in 2009 - well

short of the $24 billion thought needed by 2015. The major international fund

will stop making new grants until 2014.

Washington has led the effort to combat AIDS and will need to lead the search

for additional donor contributions, greater financing by AIDS-afflicted nations

that can afford it, and more cost-effective approaches to prevention and

treatment. This is no time to lose ground against a scourge that, while no

longer always fatal, is still infecting people faster than they can be tested

and treated.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/opinion/still-fighting-against-aids.html?nl=to\

daysheadlines & emc=tha211