Dave Wessner is a professor of biology and public health at Davidson College. Since 2020, he has been covering the Covid-19 pandemic, HIV/AIDS, and other topics related to infectious diseases and social determinants of health. Wessner teaches courses on introductory biology, microbiology, Covid-19, and HIV/AIDS.
On this World AIDS Day, experts extol recent advances in combating the four decade-old global HIV epidemic. Indeed, the goal of eliminating HIV/AIDS as a major public health threat by 2030 remains a possibility. But these same experts acknowledge that the recent progress may be lost. Increased LGBTQ discrimination in countries throughout the world, disruptions of services due to regional conflicts, and uncertainty about the continued U.S.
HAART is so effective that the amount of virus in the blood of an HIV-infected person can become undetectable. And several large studies have shown that someone with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit the virus sexually. Undetectable equals untransmissible.These same drugs also can protect a person from becoming infected if exposed to the virus. When taken regularly, pre-exposure prophylaxis medications like Truvada and Descovy offer significant protection to uninfected people.
But public health researchers also note that ending the HIV epidemic by 2030 will not be easy. Many structural barriers remain. And these impediments may be getting worse.remain major barriers to ending the HIV epidemic. As Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand noted at the International AIDS Conference in July, “The HIV/AIDS pandemic is rooted in inequality and marginalization.” Indeed, as part of their plan for ending HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS in 2021 put forth the.
On this World AIDS Day, we can be thankful for the progress that has been made. The HIV/AIDS landscape has improved dramatically, both in the U.S. and globally. But HIV/AIDS is not over. Much still needs to be done. As former New Zealand Prime Minister Clark remarked at the end of her talk at the International AIDS Conference, “It’s clear that we do not live in the best of times. But we can’t give up on the challenges we face like ending AIDS. Lives and well-being literally depend on it.
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