AIDS, the epidemic that has ended 35 million lives and infected twice that number, may meet its own end within the lifetime of most people reading this article, experts say.
"This isn't anymore about getting people the treatment only, or getting condoms out," said Mark Dybul, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, on stage at the 2013 Social Good Summit on Monday. "It's actually about ending an epidemic. When you think that way, you start doing things differently."
AIDS fighters have determined the geographic locations where the most infections come from. The big one is sub-Saharan Africa, home to 69% of the world's AIDS patients, a place where one in every 20 people has the virus. They have brought treatment to people in those nations in the form of clinics, and have started to teach them about the dangers of AIDS and how to prevent its spread.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), a founding co-chair of the Congressional HIV/AIDS caucus, was also on stage with Dybul. She believes the fight against the epidemic is also largely about empowering populations who have been stigmatized for their association with AIDS: gay and transgender people, sex workers and drug users. Parts of society have left these people behind, and when they are again brought into the fold through proper medical treatment, she and Dybul said, AIDS will stop its burn through the human race.
When Lee went to parts of Africa at the beginning of the fight against the virus, she said, "I remember seeing more funerals than I even want to mention."
Now, she looks forward to seeing hope.
About Social Good Summit
The Social Good Summit is where big ideas meet new media to create innovative solutions and is brought to you by Mashable, The 92nd Street Y, The United Nations Foundation, The United Nations Development Programme, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ericsson. Held during U.N. Week, the Social Good Summit unites a dynamic community of global leaders to discuss a big idea: the power of innovative thinking and technology to solve our greatest challenges.
Date: Sept. 22 through Sept. 24
Time: 12 to 6 p.m. each day
Location: 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y.
Tickets are sold-out, but tune into the Livestream.
About Ericsson
BONUS: 10 Moving Quotes From Day 2 of Social Good Summit
[nggallery id="12695"]