Sec'y Clinton lauds headway in battle against AIDS

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says it's possible to virtually eliminate HIV-infected births and the U.S. is donating $80 million in new funding to help poor countries reach that goal.<br /> <br /> Treating HIV-infected women so that they protect their babies is a key part of the Obama administration's goal of an AIDS-free generation.<br /> <br /> Clinton told the International AIDS Conference Monday that the new money will help get those life-saving drugs to women who now slip through the cracks.<br /> <br /> Clinton also says the U.S. is investing millions more to study what works best to protect the highest-risk population in hard hit countries- gay and bisexual men, sex workers and injecting drug users.<br /> <br /> Her message: "If we're going to beat AIDS, we can't afford to avoid sensitive conversations."<br /> <br /> Earlier, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading U.S. AIDS researcher, told the conference that science has provided the tools needed to slash new infections even without a vaccine - if countries will put them in place.<br /> <br /> Fauci said it won't be easy or happen overnight. In his words, "no promises, no dates but we know it can happen."<br /> <br /> Fauci said "we want to get to the end of AIDS" but that "a lot of people, a lot of countries, a lot of regions have a lot to do."<br /> <br /> Topping that list of tools is better treatment of people who already have HIV, so they're less likely to spread the virus. But Fauci also called male circumcision a "stunningly successful" step, pointing to part of Uganda that's stressing that step.<br /> <br /> Researchers, doctors and patients attending the conference are urging the world's governments not to cut back on the fight against the epidemic when it is at a turning point.<br /> <br /> There is no cure or vaccine yet, but scientists say they have the tools to finally stem the spread of this intractable virus - largely by using treatment not just to save patients but to make them less infectious, too.<br /> <br /> "Future generations are counting on our courage to think big, be bold and seize the opportunity before us," said Dr. Diane Havlir of the University of California, San Francisco, a co-chair of the International AIDS Conference.<br /> <br /> "We must resolve together never to go backwards," Dr. Elly Katabira, president of the International AIDS Society, told the conference's opening session late Sunday.<br /> <br /> More than 20,000 scientists, people living with HIV and policy-makers are meeting this week to figure out how to turn some scientific advances into practical protections, valuable additions to those tried-and-true condoms.<br /> <br /> Studies show that treating people with HIV early, before they're sick, not only is life-saving for them but lowers their chances of spreading the virus through sex.<br /> <br /> On another front, healthy people can take the daily AIDS medicine Truvada to lower their risk of infection from a sexual partner. Hard-hit countries are grappling with how to try that protection in their highest-risk populations.<br /> <br /> Other goals include getting more HIV-infected pregnant women treated to protect their babies, and getting more men circumcised in developing countries to protect them from heterosexual infection.<br /> <br /> But money is a big challenge during a global recession - and for countries weary of the fight against a disease with an ever-growing number of people who need care. Today, there are 34.2 million people living with HIV, and while infections are dropping slowly, still 2.5 million are infected every year.<br /> <br /> The world spent $16.8 billion fighting AIDS in poor countries, the hardest-hit, last year. But that's still $7 billion a year shy of the amount needed to nearly double the 8 million people getting life-saving drugs by the world's goal of 2015.<br /> <br /> "This gap is killing people," UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe told the conference. "My friends, the end of AIDS is not free. It is not too expensive. It is priceless."<br />

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