Aging with HIV in Africa: the challenges of living longer.

The global response to the HIV epidemic represents one of the greatest public health achievements of this century. The successful scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage in developing countries from negligible levels in 2003 to more than 7.9 million in 2012 demonstrates that with political commitment, substantial economic support, and concerted community and medical efforts, global epidemics can be slowed and, perhaps one day, halted. Including national governments, bilateral donors (such as the US Presidential Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief) and multilateral donors (such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria), and international organizations [such as Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)] the total available funds for HIV-related activities in developing countries increased from US$1.6 billion in 2001 – spent primarily on prevention efforts – to US$15.9 billion in 2009, invested mostly in the delivery of ART [1].