The number of new HIV infections has dropped rapidly across the world, although rates must drop faster to meet the United Nations’ target of ending AIDS as a public health target by 2030.
According to a recent study published in The Lancet HIV journal, the number of new infections in the world dropped by a fifth during the 2010s, while the number of deaths caused by the disease fell by 40%.
Preventative treatments are largely credited with bringing down infection rates — notably in Africa, by far the worst affected continent — while recent new vaccines have raised hopes the disease may finally be eradicated.
“Africa is excited, women are excited, we have waited long for this,” a healthcare worker in the continent told The New York Times.
(Semafor Africa)
