Science: HIV — No time for complacency
Quarraisha Abdool Karim, associate scientific director, and Salim S. Abdool Karim, director, both at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), and both professors at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University

“Today, the global HIV epidemic is widely viewed as triumph over tragedy. … But have we turned the tide on HIV sufficiently to warrant directing our attention and investments elsewhere? … There is no room for complacency when so much more remains to be done for HIV prevention and treatment. The task of breaking down barriers and building bridges needs greater commitment and impetus. Now is not the time to take the foot off the pedal of the global AIDS response if the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target of a 90 percent reduction in HIV incidence by 2030 is to be met. The social mobilization and activism that characterized the early HIV response are even more critical now. More effort and investment are needed to support ongoing treatment, increase testing and treatment, deliver effective prevention programs to those most at risk, and expand the available prevention strategies, ultimately with a vaccine and a cure” (6/15).