Editor's note: Dr. Anthony S. Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.



Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: Progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but "our work is just beginning."



(CNN) -- When we commemorated the first World AIDS Day on December 1, 1988, we had little to celebrate.



The number of reported AIDS cases in the United States was nearing 80,000 and rising rapidly. Untold thousands more in this country were living with the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Globally, AIDS cases already had been reported from more than 135 countries. An AIDS tsunami clearly was looming, but we had few defenses at our disposal.



For those of us caring for people with AIDS, it was a dark time. We had just one anti-HIV medicine in our pharmacies, AZT, a drug that the virus rapidly defeated by mutating and developing resistance. Lacking other medicines to slow the relentless replication of HIV and its destruction of a person's immune system, we did our best to help our patients by managing to the extent possible their AIDS-related infections and complications. But the life span of most of the patients was measured in months.



Two decades later, much has changed. An unprecedented research effort has led to more than two dozen anti-HIV drugs, more than for all other viral diseases combined. Taken in proper combinations, these medications have dramatically improved the prognosis for people living with HIV by increasing their life span by at least a decade and providing the possibility of a normal life span with continued therapy.



Scientifically proven prevention approaches -- education and outreach to at-risk populations, voluntary HIV testing and counseling, condom distribution, prevention of HIV transmission from mother to baby, harm reduction approaches for drug abusers, mass-media campaigns and the screening of donated blood -- have been deployed with great success in the United States and many other countries.



Innovative programs such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as the efforts of nongovernment organizations, have reached millions of people in low- and mid-income countries worldwide with HIV-related services, at a scale unimaginable a few years ago. And gradually -- but too slowly -- we have begun addressing AIDS-related stigma in this country and abroad.



Much has been accomplished in the fight against HIV/AIDS from scientific, medical and public health standpoints. However, now is no time to rest on our accomplishments or our laurels. The statistics of the HIV/AIDS pandemic tell us that much more needs to be done.



Around the world, a staggering 2.7 million people were infected in 2007 alone. Globally, 33 million people are living with HIV infection, most of them in the developing world. In the United States, more than 1 million people are living with HIV. And 56,000 more people are infected each year in the U.S., driving HIV prevalence rates in some of our communities to levels that rival those seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Gay and bisexual men, and African-Americans in general, are disproportionately affected. The true ground zero of the HIV epidemic in the United States is in those communities.



What is the way forward? First, even in the face of a world economic crisis, the global community must scale up the delivery of proven HIV therapies and prevention services. In low- and middle-income countries, less than one-third of people in need of anti-HIV therapy are receiving it, and only one in five people at risk of HIV infection have access to prevention services.



All around the world, access to HIV services -- and medical care in general -- remains a challenge in many poor communities. The global community must sustain our commitment to investing resources for medicines, clinics, as well as training and salaries for doctors, nurses and community health care workers to provide care for HIV/AIDS and other diseases in the settings where they occur.



Here in the United States, more than one-fifth of
What did Dr. Anthony S. Fauci think? What is a challenge in poor areas? What did the medications improve prognosis for? What are the prevention approaches hat are available? does medications improve health?
Progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but "our work is just beginning." access to HIV services increasing their life span by at least a decade and providing the possibility of a normal life span with continued therapy. of HIV transmission from mother to baby, harm reduction have dramatically improved the prognosis for people living with HIV
question: What did Dr. Anthony S. Fauci think?, answer: Progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but "our work is just beginning." | question: What is a challenge in poor areas?, answer: access to HIV services | question: What did the medications improve prognosis for?, answer: increasing their life span by at least a decade and providing the possibility of a normal life span with continued therapy. | question: What are the prevention approaches hat are available?, answer: of HIV transmission from mother to baby, harm reduction | question: does medications improve health?, answer: have dramatically improved the prognosis for people living with HIV