Is the end in sight?
Campaigners are now talking openly of beating the AIDS epidemic
TARGETS, students of management agree, help achieve goals. The best are demanding but realistic. And that is something those in charge of the fight against AIDS have come to realise. Their latest target, by far their most ambitious, is to end the epidemic by 2030. “End” is an elastic term, since there is no cure for HIV infection, nor is one in sight. But optimists think a combination of the tools available—particularly the antiretroviral (ARV) drugs which now keep around 13m people alive—could be enough to stop the virus spreading. In the parlance of epidemiologists, they believe they can arrive at R0
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline "Is the end in sight?"
Discover more
Antarctica, Earth’s largest refrigerator, is defrosting
The world must pay more attention to its southern pole
Killer whales deploy brutal, co-ordinated attacks when hunting
Their techniques are passed down through the generations
A new generation of music-making algorithms is here
Their most useful application may lie in helping human composers