Getting to Zero on World AIDS Day

December 1, 2011 marked the twenty-third annual celebration of World AIDS Day. Between 1981 and 2007, AIDS has claimed the lives of an estimated 25 million people and 34 million people are believed to be living with HIV today. Advances in lowering the new infection rate (which is down 21 percent since 1997), lowering the number of AID-related deaths, and increasing the number of people able to access life-saving treatment has led Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UNAIDS to call for an “AIDS-free generation.”  But while the signs are encouraging, there is still a long road to travel before “getting to zero,” the theme of this year’s World AIDS Day. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 68 percent of all the people living with HIV, and in 2010 the region accounted for 70 percent of all new HIV infections. In addition, women continue to account for around 50 percent of infections. Unless more is done to integrate family planning and sexual and reproductive health programs with HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, the dream of a world with zero new HIV infections will remain just that, a dream.

For more information, please read our blog post on World AIDS Day and download the new report from UNAIDS.