To win the fight against AIDS, we must end the war on drugs

News

To win the fight against AIDS, we must end the war on drugs

7 August 2017

By Julio Montaner and Kora DeBeck

There is much to celebrate: the end of AIDS may be in sight.

More than three decades into the global HIV pandemic, 18.2 million of the 36.7 million people living with HIV are on life-saving antiretroviral treatment. The UN’s 90-90-90 target for 2020—90 per cent of people living with HIV diagnosed, 90 per cent on treatment and 90 per cent with undetectable levels of the virus—has been declared “feasible.” And US $19 billion has been invested into fighting HIV in low-income and middle-income countries.

But we may be undermining the time, effort and funds spent on HIV prevention and treatment by ignoring a key factor contributing to higher incidence of HIV/AIDS: the global war on drugs.

Click here to read the full article.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Thumbnail: WikiCommons