AIDS-free generation – NIH Director's Blog (original) (raw)
Global Effort to End AIDS Would Save Millions of Lives
Posted on June 7th, 2016 by Dr. Francis Collins
Scanning electromicrograph of an HIV-infected T cell/NIAID
Almost 37 million people around the world are now infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS [1]. But many don’t know they are infected or lack access to medical care. Even though major strides have been made in treating the infection, less than half receive antiretroviral therapy (ART) that could prevent full-blown AIDS and reduce the likelihood of the virus being transmitted to other people. Now, a new report restores hope that an end to this very serious public health challenge could be within reach—but that will require a major boost in commitment and resources.
The study conducted by an NIH-funded research team evaluated the costs and expected life-saving returns associated with ambitious goals for HIV testing and treatment, the so-called 90-90-90 program, issued by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2014 [2]. The new analysis, based on HIV disease progression and treatment data in South Africa, finds that those goals, though expensive to implement, can be achieved cost-effectively, potentially containing the AIDS epidemic and saving many millions of lives around the globe.
Tags: 35th anniversary of AIDS, 90-90-90, 90-90-90 program, Africa, AIDS, AIDS epidemic, AIDS-free generation, antiretroviral therapy, art, Botswana, cascade of care, clinical resources, cost-effectiveness, donor organizations, economics, epidemiology, global health, HIV, HIV cure, HIV screening, HIV transmission, HIV treatment, human immunodeficiency virus, infectious disease, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, population screening, public health, South Africa, UNAIDS, United Nations, viral suppression
Connecting the Dots: The State of U.S. Health, 1990-2010
Posted on September 12th, 2013 by Dr. Francis Collins
| Caption: Adapted from Figure 2, The state of US health, 1990-2010: burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. US Burden of Disease Collaborators. JAMA . 2013 Aug 14;310(6):591-608. |
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Kudos to the U.S. Burden of Disease Collaborators and their recent report on the state of U.S. health from 1990 to 2010. This team, supported by NIH and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, documented how the incidence of various diseases and injuries has changed over the past two decades in terms of toll they take on Americans’ health and well being. That toll is measured in something called disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which amounts to the sum of years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability.