“If people feel included, they will rise up….”
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But, he added, despite huge progress in the struggle against HIV and Aids, “we now face a new risk – the risk of complacency”.
By 2020, it wants 90 percent of people with HIV to know their status, 90 percent of diagnosed people to be on treatment, and 90 percent of those on treatment to have suppressed levels of the virus in their bodies.
In the study, the HIV negative person was offered PrEP, a once-a-day pill that works to stop HIV reproducing in the body, until their partner had taken ARVs for six months to reduce their viral load and the risk of transmission.
“We owe it to the millions of people who lost their lives to AIDS, and the millions more who we can still reach to finish the journey we started 35 years ago”.
Further, three PEPFAR supported countries will be funded to increase access to quality HIV services for LGBT people in high HIV burden geographic areas.
The results were announced on Tuesday at the Durban International AIDS Conference in South Africa, where delegates are discussing the United Nations target of ending AIDS as a global health crisis by 2030. This stunning country is home to some of the most breathtaking scenery on earth, but it is also home to some of the world’s most vulnerable young people. Stigma kept HIV positive people from talking openly about their condition and kept vulnerable people from having the courage to step into a clinic and ask for a test.
He said: “Over the last decade working in Lesotho [through charity Sentebale], I’ve seen first hand the wonderful progress that has been made in treating the physical and mental effects of HIV”. The work they are doing through their “We the Brave” programme, the first large scale campaign ever in South Africa to address both prevention and treatment issues in an affirming, non-judgmental and sex positive way, is something for us all to be incredibly proud of.
Health officials next turned to sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to the majority of newly reported HIV infections as well as a second subtype of the virus.
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Furnish said LGBT people deserved the same access to medical treatment and the same love and care as anyone else.
