AIDS has and is a huge problem in the world, especially the developing world. The good news is that people are becoming more aware and active about prevention and being tested. This is a reason why the number of people that were tested this year has already doubled last year's numbers in dozens of countries. This increase in the number of people being tested is partly due to the international funding and programs providing antiretroviral drugs. The amount of adults and children being treated that are HIV positive has increased, allowing them to now live past their childhood. Another focus has been treating HIV positive pregnant women so that their babies will not be born with the disease as well. The downside to this news is that the number of those treated is still less than the number being newly infected. South Africa, which has the largest AIDS treatment program in the world, is not even treating half of the number of people that need the medicines and remains the country with the highest number of those infected. There is work and progress being made and being provided to those who were not before, but there is still much work to be done.
Over a million treated, over 2.7 newly infected.
-Sara Frodge
Source:The New York Times
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