AIDS 2012 conference comes at a 'moment of hope'

"A tremendous amount of attention will be focused on AIDS over the next six weeks -- and that's a great thing," as the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) convenes in Washington, D.C., from July 22 to 27, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby writes in an opinion piece in The Hill. "This is a moment of hope," he adds, continuing, "The world has seen a fundamental transformation in the global AIDS outlook over the past decade, with the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria playing leading roles."

However, Goosby writes, "[t]he point is not that it's time to rest on our laurels -- it's exactly the opposite: now that we have made so much progress, and come so far, we simply must push on and do even more." He adds, "The success we've achieved so far is what tells us that we can achieve an AIDS-free generation. ... In my view, we have much more room in which to increase both our impact and efficiency, and we will continue to drive these improvements." He concludes, "At every step of the way since the earliest days of the global AIDS effort a decade ago, many have doubted that success was possible. Now we know. That knowledge should inform us as we recommit to the fight -- with hope" (7/10).