AIDS investment 'paying off' as epidemic peaks

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The AIDS epidemic has peaked, according to new UN data released this week.

The number of new infections has levelled off with roughly the same number in 2008, the most recent data, as there were in 2007.

But before we get the champagne out let's be clear.

In 2008 there were 2.7million new HIV infections. That's more of a torrent of disease than a trickle.

Nonetheless there is reason to celebrate.

Now we know for sure that donor investments are paying off.

AIDS is not a blackhole of endless need, but a battle that can be won.

The prevention programmes are working. Fewer babies are being born with HIV or acquiring it in infancy from their mothers.

This must be a priority if we are to conquer the epidemic. It is also a fantastic investment.

For a few pounds per mother, we can save a lifetime of treatment costs for the child.

Mother to child transmission has been virtually eliminated in the developed world and the secretary general of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, believes it can be in the developing world too, if allocated the right resources.

Levels of safe sexual behaviour among adults also appear to be improving in Southern Africa. In South Africa, for example the proportion of adults reporting condom use during their first sexual encounter rose from 31.3 per cent in 2002 to 64.8 per cent in 2008.

We can not treat our way out of the AIDS epidemic.

For every two people on treatment five are newly infected, but treatment is nonetheless crucial.

When HIV is not a death sentence there is a reason for people to get diagnosed. Diagnosis increases the likelihood that people will take steps to protect the health of their partners. Once diagnosed and on treatment, people are less infectious, as the drugs lower the level of virus in the body.

So the second piece of excellent news from the UN is that more people are on treatment than ever before and as a result fewer are dying.

Yet half of the people infected with HIV around the world still do not have access to the life-saving drugs they need. That's 4.5 million people facing early death.

Calls to shift funding from HIV are premature. Now is the time to capitalise on gains; not to conclude that the job is done.

Yes, the money must work harder. Funders must abandon prejudice and invest in programmes that work whether they serve sex workers, gay men, widows or children.

The UNAIDS report points to several areas where prevention programmes are missing key populations, but funders are learning and it shows. Four million extra people alive today in low and middle income countries are testimony to that.

Veronica Oakeshott is policy adviser to the all-party parliamentary group on AIDS.