M

ay 27, p. 1

Globally, new HIV infections continue to fall and more people than ever are starting treatment.

With research providing solid evidence that antiretroviral therapy can prevent new HIV infections, the UNAIDS disclosed in its 2011 World AIDS Day report that 6.6 million people are now receiving treatment in low- and middle-income countries, nearly half those eligible.

Your comments:

We have spent the last 10 years trying to persuade the public that people living with HIV are not monsters. Now you depict them precisely as such! You should (by now) be aware that the use of the term “AIDS” is frowned upon, unless we are specifically talking about people with advanced HIV disease.

Thanks to the universal and free availability of antiretroviral therapy in Indonesia, we should be able to guarantee that no HIV-infected people progress to AIDS.

Sadly, this objective is still some way off, mainly because people who have been at risk of infection are embarrassed or scared to present for testing.

Chris Green