First AID(S)

Dec 1 is a day set aside globally to recognise an ongoing fight in public health. This fight, unfortunately, is often overlooked in the US, despite a large number of sufferers - after all, there's a solution and it's well-managed, right?

Not quite.

True, antiretroviral therapy (ART) is available to combat HIV/AIDS, but it's no silver bullet. No these drugs, at best, keep the virus in stasis (provided the drugs are taken like clockwork) and bring a host of negative side effects to the patients.

Did I mention that these drugs meed to be taken for the rest of one's life and that they aren't always cheap? Right, fancy that.

To put that in more perspective, though, let me run you by some statistics:

• In the US
• > 1.2 million individuals are living with HIV
• ~39 500 individuals were newly-diagnosed in 2015
• 67% were gay & bisexual men
• 82% of all male diagnoses
• 24% attributed to heterosexual contact
• 6% attributed to injection drug use
• African-Americans are 13% of the population, but represented ~ 45% of new diagnoses

New HIV Diagnoses in the United States for the Most-Affected Subpopulations, 2015

• ~ 13 000 passed away from AIDS-related complications
• Approximately 37% are on ARTs
• In Sub-Saharan Africa
• Approximately 24.7 million people are living with HIV
• In 2014, there were 1.5 million new infections
• Roughly 1.1 million individuals died from HIV/AIDS complications in 2014
• Only 39% of individuals are on ARTs
• South Africa, where I grew up, has a 19.2% prevalence of HIV in the adult population
• Only 48% of those are currently receiving ARTs
• South Africa has the biggest HIV epidemic of any country in the world
• In Asia and the Pacific
• Roughly 5.1 million are living with HIV
• 300 000 were newly diagnosed in 2014
• 180 000 passed away in 2014
• 41% are on ARTs
• In the Middle East and North Africa
• 230 000 people are living with HIV
• There were 21 000 new infections in 2014
• There were 12 000 new deaths in 2014
• Only 17% are on ARTs

• In Latin America
• 1.6 million are living with HIV
• 94 000 are newly-infected as of 2014
• 47 000 have passed away in 2014
• 44% are on ARTs
• In the Caribbean
• 250 000 are living with HIV
• 12 000 were newly-infected as of 2014
• 11 000 had passed away
• 42% are on ARTs
• In Eastern Europe and Central Asia
• 1.5 million were living with HIV in 2014
• There were 190 000 new infections
• 47 000 passed away from HIV/AIDS complications
• 21% were on ARTs
• In Western and Central Europe
• Approximately 1.2 million are living with HIV
• Approximately 50 000 were new infections
• Approximately 9000 passed away
• 59% are on ARTs

So, now that you're just a slight bit more aware of the global AIDS crisis, please, get involved. There are a myriad of organisations committed to HIV/AIDS research and awareness, including the NIH, amfAR, UNAIDS, (Red) campaign, One, and more.

Maybe supporting an AIDS orphanage is more up your alley. If so, Beautiful Gate is one I know of personally, but there are many similar organisations around the world.

The point is, please, speak up, get tested, fight the stigma, and, most importantly, campaign for a cure.

Sources

• https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/statistics/
• http://www.avert.org/global-hiv-and-aids-statistics