AIDS Epidemic Should Be Over In Less Than 20 Years, Says UN Official Full story

[socalpoz]

Read this on queerty and decide to post to share. Here's the link.

http://www.queerty.com/aids-epidemic-should-be-over-in-less-than-20-years-says-un-official-20130923/

It's weird but feel conflicted with this article and I am not sure why. I believe the stigma of HIV/AIDS is the key to gain control the disease. I see this problem tied to nonsafe sex practices and not knowing one is poz. If people would be comfortable getting tested first and then take their HARRT we really could end the epidemic. Afterall it just takes one person spreading the virus around.

I just don't see how this could be accomplished and really a vaccine is what's needed.

[oksikoko]

I agree and would bet the newly poz with high viral loads who are unaware they're poz probably account for a large chunk if not the majority of new infections. I'd love to see stats on this, but how would one gather such numbers?

Until there's a vaccine, the keys to controlling the epidemic, at least locally (US-NY) seem to me to be:

- testing, testing, testing
- treating everyone upon diagnosis
- suppressing as many viral loads as possible as quickly as possible

I would also love to know how many of the HIV+ people in the City have undetectable viral loads. That 25% figure that's thrown around has been questioned lately and wouldn't apply to New York anyway. We seem to have a problem here with unreliable and unavailable statistics in general, or so I hear from people who are passionate about this sort of thing.

I'm all for outreach and education for their own sakes, but I don't believe education (beyond initial sex ed when you're younger) will make much of a difference in infection rates. I'm open to being wrong on this, but people generally know how to avoid STDs. Knowledge is surely not the problem.