Because of the media hype that surrounds it and the devastating effects it has on both individuals and large populations, many people have heard of the term “HIV or AIDS” at some point in their lives. Usually the terms stir up fear in an individual, partly because they know that it is a fatal disease, and partly because there is a misunderstanding as to how you can contract it.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This is the virus that causes AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). Every person has an immune system in their body which fights infection and disease. For someone with HIV, the virus locates certain crucial immune system white blood cells called T-cells or CD-4 cells, and destroys them. Thus, an HIV infected person ultimately ends up with a compromised immune system that is unable to ward off illnesses, bacteria, viruses, and diseases. When the body reaches the point where it cannot fight off these pathogens, the person is considered to have AIDS. It usually takes about 10-15 years from the time of HIV infection until full blown AIDS, although antiretroviral drugs can prolong the process.

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The Global HIV Prevention Working Group, an international panel of 50 leading AIDS experts, said many effective HIV prevention steps are not having anything like the impact they could because they are often not available to those at the greatest risk of infection.

In a “report card” published at an international AIDS conference in Vienna on national efforts to try to prevent new infections with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS, the group found most regions could do a lot better.

“On average the grades that were assigned by the working group ranged from average to poor, with some failing grades for some of the key indicators,” Helene Gayle, co-chair of the Working Group and chief executive of CARE USA, told reporters.

“Our overall finding is not that prevention is failing, but that we are failing prevention.”

The AIDS virus infects 33.4 million people around the world and has killed 25 million since the pandemic began in the 1980s. There is no cure and no vaccine but drugs can keep patients healthy. Without treatment, the virus destroys the immune system, leaving patients susceptible to infections and cancer.

Scientists and AIDS experts repeatedly say that the world cannot “treat its way out” of the AIDS epidemic.

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