Twenty one years ago on Nov. 7, America was jolted with the news that basketball legend Magic Johnson had contracted HIV and would immediately retire from the sport. Almost immediately, he began taking the antiretroviral drug AZT, and his health quickly improved.
Just three months later, Johnson returned to basketball to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, where his performance earned him the MVP award. Through Johnson’s experience, mainstream America began to understand that HIV infection was no longer a death sentence, but a largely treatable, chronic condition.
We’re fortunate that during the past two decades there has been great progress in the treatment and care of people living with HIV and AIDS. With early detection and increasingly effective treatments, Johnson’s story is now just one of many high-profile examples of how people can manage their HIV and live long, productive lives.
But while proper treatment for people with HIV has become much more available and effective, only 25 percent of Americans with HIV are receiving it.
At the same time, people born after AIDS first emerged in 1981 are now most at risk of becoming infected. This sad fact highlights how important awareness and education is as we mark World AIDS Day today.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HIV infection rates are increasing for Americans between 13 and 30, and most of the new HIV infections reported in this country involve people under 30.
It’s so important to ensure that all people – especially young people – are aware and educated about HIV/AIDS prevention and the availability of effective treatments.
About 56,000 Americans become infected with HIV each year, according to the CDC, and more than 14,000 Americans with AIDS die each year. The CDC estimates that nearly 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and about one in five don’t know they have the virus.
Regularly testing people most at risk, and then providing antiretroviral drugs, dramatically reduces the number of new infections.
Preventing HIV isn’t complicated. If you’re sexually active, get tested. Don’t use IV drugs or share needles. Abstain or practice safer sex. With preventive care, patients and their health care providers can fight and manage this disease and slow its spread.
We can’t allow today’s more effective treatments make us complacent, ambivalent, or lessen our resolve to find a cure.
To learn more or to find a place near you to get tested, visit http://www.cdc.gov/actagainstaids.
Sam Ho, M.D., chief medical officer, UnitedHealthcare
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