Forbes: Antiretroviral Therapy’s Positive Impact On Global Public Health Faces Challenges Moving Forward

Antiretroviral therapy(ART) has been an incredible breakthrough in the treatment of AIDS. Because of its conception in 1995, there has been an estimated 9.5 million lives saved between 1995 and 2015. However, the United Nations created a 90-90-90 goal in 2014, that they wished to achieve by 2020. The idea was to have 90% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 90% of those diagnosed receiving continuous treatment, and 90% having viral suppression. With 2020 approaching, there seems to be significant barriers: in 2017, data showed that there were one million AIDS related deaths, 1.8 million new cases, and 40 million people living with HIV worldwide. One cited barrier seems to be that in places such as the UK, individuals know they have HIV, however, have not started or stayed on their treatment. As transmitted and acquired resistance increases worldwide, viral load monitoring will be crucial.