Improvements Needed in Approach to HIV Preventive Strategies, Report Says

This article originally appeared on The American Journal of Managed Care.

The HIV pandemic is not on track to end, and a “dangerous complacency” in the response to the global pandemic is putting the world at risk for a resurgence of the disease, according to a Lancet report

that painted a grim picture for the future of HIV response and outcomes.

According to the report, existing HIV tools and strategies are insufficient, and despite historic breakthroughs in maximizing prevention and treatment strategies, the HIV pandemic will likely continue to be a global challenge for the foreseeable future.

Up to 38.9 million people worldwide were living with HIV in 2015-2016, and there were approximately 2 million new cases of the virus diagnosed in 2015. In 2016, there were 1 million AIDS-related deaths and, overall, more than 35 million people have died of AIDS-related deaths since the start of the epidemic.

“Although the number of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have markedly decreased since the epidemic peaked, little progress has been made in reducing new infections in the past decade,” states the report. “Without further reductions in HIV incidence, a resurgence of the epidemic is inevitable, as the largest ever generation of young people age into adolescence and adulthood.”

The report, written by an international commission of global experts brought together by

The Lancet

and the International AIDS Society, combined the expertise of more than 40 experts to make recommendations on how HIV and global health stakeholders can collaborate to advance outcomes.

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