World AIDS Day Around the World

World Health Organization had recommended ART irrespective of CD4 counts once a person was confirmed HIV positive, Dr. Rao said.

Clinical Lead in Sexual Health with the Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme Dr Fiona Lyons added that access to HIV testing was a critical part of HIV prevention. But progress stalled around 2010.

During 2015, 103 new cases were diagnosed there.

Across the country, more than 654,000 people (link in Chinese) are living with HIV, the infection that causes AIDS, according to the center.

Transmission of HIV from mother to child must be eliminated without delay, said Dr Gilada. “The clinical evidence is that it is through community-based initiatives, and the churches are among the best to do it, that it is tackled most efficiently and effectively”.

The push is credited with revving up global efforts to fight HIV. “And that’s a challenge because this epidemic isn’t over”.

“The whole community still does not accept AIDS”, said Mona, who was diagnosed 14 years ago with HIV. About half of them are on drugs they’ll have to take for the rest of their lives.

And the future looks grim. There are now 1.8 million children who have HIV and most contracted the disease through their infected mothers. It is not possible to get HIV through breathing the same air, eating food handled by others, sharing phones, clothing and cutlery, or hugging and kissing them.

But that may be hard.

Last month, a report from the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) show increases in detections of HIV had spiked in the past 12 months.

Africa – where the vast majority of people with HIV live, roughly 25 million – has limited health resources to begin with. “Still, much work remains to be done to promote education, prevention, treatment, care, and to find a cure”.

Terrence Higgins chief executive, Ian Green said, ” We’ve come a long way since the Aids crisis first emerged, when the nation was gripped by panic and fear”.

In 2015 there are over 100,000 people in the United Kingdom living with HIV and only 88,769 know they have the condition, which increases the risk of onward transmission greatly. Young women are facing a triple threat: “a high risk of HIV infection, low rates of HIV testing and poor adherence to HIV treatment”, he said.

Countries are working toward goals set by UNAIDS.