Is an end to AIDS within our lifetime really too much to hope for?
The facts might suggest otherwise.
According to UNAIDS, in 2013 over 2.1 million people contracted HIV and 1.5 million died of HIV and AIDS-related causes. If the recent Ebola crisis has taught us anything, it is that people living in countries with poor health systems and nonexistent infrastructure are the worst hit by public health emergencies. In these countries, AIDS is still the number one killer of women of reproductive age, and it is estimated that in East and sub-Saharan Africa a staggering 10.5 million children have lost one or both parents to this terrible disease.