San Francisco plans to heighten its campaign against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by boosting its Getting to Zero program funds with additional $1.7 million.

On Thursday, Oct. 29, city mayor Ed Lee said that San Francisco will add $1.2 million to the program, with the funds targeted particularly to those who are hard to reach. Aside from this, MAC Cosmetics will also contribute $100,000 to the city via its MAC AIDS Fund, which is the company's HIV/AIDS charity that has been around for a long time now.

For this fiscal year, the city has already pledged $54 million for the prevention of the disease and care of San Francisco residents suffering from HIV/AIDS. The additional funds announced will help the staff to reach out to those diagnosed and are at a high risk of the disease, who are skeptical of undergoing medical and mental health consultations.

The goal of the project is to make the city the first in the U.S. to be free from HIV/AIDS. More specifically, they want to trim down transmission and related deaths by 90 percent come the year 2020. Lee said they want to have zero infections, zero preventable mortalities and zero stigma. "We can, in our lifetime, end this epidemic for everyone," he said.

Getting to Zero Initiative started in 2014 and focused on having a wider access of HIV prevention drug called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for affected individuals and encouraging more people to join the programs, which gives out referrals on the same day of the diagnosis and ensures that they carry through with the warranted care.

New infections in San Francisco have plummeted in the last 20 years. In 2013, the record low of the disease in the city was noted. In 1992, the recorded cases were 2,332 but in the recent reports, new cases are now said to be 302 only.

"We've made a lot of progress in San Francisco, but it's not over," said Dr. Diane Havlir from San Francisco General Hospital.

Despite the improvements, further efforts must be made to encourage people who are hard to reach, as well as those using intravenous drugs, young people and women.

The plan now is to expand the PrEP therapy, begin treatment on the day of diagnosis and initiate outreach programs to the most vulnerable groups, including the homeless, and mental health and substance abuse patients.

Photo: Commonwealth Club | Flickr

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