A Black Strategy To End HIV
HIV is a disease that affects the most marginalized: Black and brown people, LGBTQ people, people living in poverty, people who don’t have housing, people experiencing substance addiction, and so many others who aren’t able to thrive simply because of who they are, who they love, or where they live.HIV is certainly not the only disease for which health disparities exist, but few health conditions match HIV in the degree to which it has affected those with the fewest resources to respond.
Scientifically, much has been revolutionized since the epidemic’s early days. Extraordinarily effective medications have been developed to slow the progression of the disease and to prevent further HIV transmission. In the near future, we are likely to have even more effective biomedical tools at our disposal—including long-acting, injectable antiretrovirals for both treatment and prevention and a plausible future of a cure and vaccine.
As optimism about available biomedical tools to fight HIV has increased, the HIV community has become more ambitious in its aspirations. Globally, in
2010 UNAIDS unveiled a vision of “getting to zero”—zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths. That same
year, the Obama administration unveiled the first National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which envisioned concerted action to reduce new infections and deaths.