The Beginning of the End of AIDS

2011 marks a critical point in our fight against AIDS. The world has made incredible progress in its efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, and 6.6 million people on treatment today are living proof that programs like the Global Fund work. Still, we are a long way from declaring victory on AIDS: there are 9 million people still in need of treatment, more than 370,000 children are infected with HIV each year, and new infections still outpace those placed on treatment by nearly 2:1.

A number of recent game-changing studies have offered exciting new tools in the fight to prevent HIV. Now more than ever, we must recommit ourselves to the fight against HIV and to achieving specific, measurable goals that will help us bend the curve of this pandemic by 2015: end mother-to-child transmission of HIV, provide treatment to the 15 million people who need it, and drastically reduce new infections.

Though these goals are ambitious, they are all measurable and achievable. But it's only when we have the broad support of donors, African governments, organizations, and the private sector that the beginning of the end of AIDS will be real.