There is fascinating new data out on the number of HIV-positive people who will go on to infect other partners. Whereas in 1984, 44 out of every 100 people who test positive would go on to infect partners, today that number has dropped dramatically to just 5 out of 100.
This news statement on the research is telling. Kaiser is celebrating this great news and commending prevention efforts. But of course the dark, ominous hand of the CDC is just behind them, with the Director of HIV/AIDS Prevention urging "caution" -- as if newly infected people will read this news report and suddenly run out and throw any prevention-induced caution to the wind. Please! This shit always happens. News comes out signaling progress being made, but some Public Health official has to come from the wings and remind us that there is a crisis among us, lest we forget it!
Twenty four years ago, the AIDS epidemic peaked in the U.S. as 130,400 people contracted the HIV virus that causes this potentially devastating illness.
Back then, before most Americans knew about AIDS, before antiretroviral treatments were available, 44 of every 100 HIV-positive people conveyed the virus to someone else.
Today, only 5 of every 100 people with HIV infect others, according to data yesterday by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Credit goes to prevention programs that promote safe sex and needle use and have helped change behavior, experts say. But inflation-adjusted funding for HIV/AIDS prevention has actually declined recently and advocates worry that gains in combating this disease could be undermined.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, only 4 percent of the nation's $23 billion spending on AIDS goes to U.S. HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. The remainder goes to research, treatment and overseas programs.
In a statement, Richard Wolitski, acting director of the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention sounded a note of caution.
"Despite this success, we can't forget that new HIV infections are increasing among gay and bisexual men and that African Americans and Hispanics continue to experience disproportionate and unacceptable high rates of HIV and AIDS," said Wolitski, co-author of the research letter published this week in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
"The fight against HIV is far from over."
Duh.
Trevor, I don't think that Wolitski's observation is at all out of line. It reads to me as someone giving a damn about gay men's health. Here's the last line of the report: "We all must do more—as individuals, communities, and as a nation—to expand the reach of effective prevention efforts to those at risk and stop the spread of HIV."
Wouldn't you agree?
I agree, Ted. I guess I'm viewing this as part of a pattern: 1) Report Good news; 2) Urge Caution; 3) Reiterate Crisis. As if no progress has not been made. As if gay men themselves aren't to thank for this progress.