Ending AIDS - Is an HIV Vaccine Necessary?

The numbers of AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections have decreased dramatically, thanks to prevention and treatment tools. But to control the pandemic more quickly and sustain the success, a safe and at least moderately effective vaccine is essential. In the past decade, according to the 2013 Global Report of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the numbers of AIDS-related deaths and new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections have fallen by about one third from their peaks accomplishments made possible by the accelerated implementation of effective prevention and treatment tools. Of particular note, the scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) averted 5.4 million deaths in low- and middle-income countries between 1995 and 2012. HIV prevention efforts have expanded from a narrow agenda of providing condoms and clean needles to use of a comprehensive toolkit of preventive interventions ...