Ending HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030 may be achievable, says Dr. Anthony Fauci

Dr Anthony Fauci, the Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

The United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that the target of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030 may be achievable.

In an interview with Axios, Fauci said: “We may get a home run ... I believe we will get there, but it may not necessarily be with a highly effective vaccine. It may be with a combination of things.”

According to Fauci, about 1.2 million people in America are living with HIV.

Fauci has spent years tackling the global AIDS epidemic. He told Axios that in the early 1980s, he devoted himself "to studying this strange disease that did not yet have a name, and certainly did not have an etiology".

The epidemic has led to about 32.7 million deaths so far, including around 690,000 in 2019 alone. At least 1.7 million new cases of infectious disease were reported across the world in 2019. Estimates of total HIV infections over the last 40 years – since the human immunodeficiency virus was first detected – vary between 55.9 million and 100 million.

The chief medical advisor to US President Joe Biden said that he is still trying to tackle the HIV epidemic “because even though it's been sidetracked a fair amount by COVID-19, HIV/AIDS is still one of the most important things.”