World AIDS Day — December 1, 2018
December 1st, 2018World AIDS Day, observed each year on December 1, draws attention to the status of the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic worldwide. Today, approximately 36.9 million persons worldwide are living with HIV infection, including 1.8 million persons newly infected during 2017 (1). An estimated 940,000 persons worldwide died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2017 (1).
In 2015, an estimated 1.1 million persons in the United States were living with HIV infection, and 86% were aware of their infection (2).
Through global efforts, including the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, for which CDC is an implementing agency, 21.7 million persons worldwide received antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection in 2017, an increase of 2.3 million persons since the end of 2016 (1). A report in this issue of MMWR (3) describes activities to implement the Treat All policy in India, which involves offering antiretroviral therapy to all persons with HIV infection.
References
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Miles to go. Global AIDS update 2018. Geneva, Switzerland: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 2018. http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/miles-to-go_en.pdf
- CDC. Estimated HIV incidence and prevalence in the United States, 2010–2015. HIV surveillance supplemental report 2018, vol. 23, no. 1. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-supplemental-report-vol-23-1.pdf
- Mitruka K, Bamrotiya M, Agarwal R, et al. Implementation of the Treat All policy among persons living with HIV infection enrolled in care but not on antiretroviral therapy—India, May 2017–June 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:1305–9.
Suggested citation for this article: World AIDS Day — December 1, 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:1305. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6747a1.