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Southwest Life Health And the West is History Community Travel

35M people worldwide are living with HIV

AIDS-related deaths are at their lowest yet
A newly diagnosed HIV positive woman receives treatment at the Mildmay Uganda clinic in Kampala, Uganda. The number of people living with HIV worldwide – 35 million – has remained virtually unchanged in the past two years.

LONDON – The number of people living with HIV worldwide has remained virtually unchanged in the past two years and AIDS-related deaths are at their lowest since peaking almost a decade ago, according to a report from the United Nations AIDS agency.

Officials declared that ending the AIDS epidemic is possible even though they acknowledged the number of new infections – more than 2 million last year – was still very high. UNAIDS estimated there were about 35 million people living with HIV last year and in 2012.

The agency also set targets to reduce deaths and new cases by 90 percent by 2030. It previously unveiled a strategy to get to “zero AIDS-related deaths,” which included ensuring all people who need treatment are on it by 2015.

Last year, there were about 12.9 million people receiving life-saving drugs and 22 million people still waiting. Some 1.5 million people died from AIDS-related causes.

Other health experts questioned whether setting more ambitious targets is wise.

Still, UNAIDS insisted in its report that we are at the “beginning of the end of the AIDS epidemic” and said the global outbreak can be stopped by 2030.

But with no vaccine and millions of people carrying the virus or becoming newly infected, some scientists said ending HIV may be idealistic rather than practical.

“We’ve made progress, but the number of people getting infected is still extraordinarily high,” said Shabbar Jaffar, a professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He said that scaling up treatment further, especially in Africa, where about 70 percent of people with HIV live, would be very difficult. “They are already working beyond capacity at the moment.

“The road will get longer and harder, and we really don’t know where we’re going to end up.”

If you go

The 17th annual AIDS Awareness Benefit will hold its Family Fun Run/Walk on Saturday morning. People can choose a 5K run or a 1.6K walk on the Animas River Trail, beginning at Rotary Park. Registration is $10 per person.

At 6 p.m. Saturday, an auction, dinner and dance will be held at the Henry Strater Theatre. Tickets are $45 for one, $80 for a couple.

Money raised will be used for HIV/AIDS education programs in the Four Corners and to assist people infected with HIV.

For more information and to register, visit www.4cglad.com/signature-events/aids-benefit or email info@4cGLAD.org.

Also, the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display from Tuesday to Saturday at Durango Public Library, 1900 East Third Ave.



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