A study published in the British medical journal Lancet yesterday suggesting that testing all adults in Africa annually for HIV and immediately treating every person who tests positive could halt the AIDS epidemic in Africa within a decade has spurred the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) to renew its call for the massive scale up of, and dramatically increased funding for global HIV testing and antiretroviral treatment worldwide.
"With this study, another nail has been pulled from the coffin of those in need of testing and treatment and those who would most benefit from the immediate massive scale up of HIV testing and lifesaving treatment around the globe," said Michael Weinstein , President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest AIDS group in the US which currently provides medical care and services to more than 86,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. "This study supports AHF's position that global HIV testing efforts remain woefully under-funded. The mathematical model suggests that if we take a different course of action immediately, the AIDS epidemic as we know it could be brought to a virtual halt throughout Africa within ten years. We are calling on global funding bodies such as the World Health Organization, the Global Fund and PEPFAR to take immediate action and change the course of their respective global efforts by redirecting crucial funding toward HIV testing efforts around the world."