Most students at the University are too young to remember the height of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. during the 1980s and ’90s. But even with the scientific breakthroughs in the last 15 years that have provided ways of managing the disease, we are still a long way from adding AIDS to the list of diseases eradicated by modern medicine.

The most defining characteristic of AIDS is its massive, global scale. No country is unaffected, and the epidemic has infected an estimated 60 million people, killing 30 million worldwide. The numbers and deaths are staggering. But so has been the collective struggle of individuals and organizations all over the world to stop, or at least slow, the loss of life.  

The fight against the disease has occupied enormous public and private resources and some of the best minds of the last two decades. With the passing of World AIDS Day on Saturday, there is good news: According to UNAIDS, 700,000 AIDS-related deaths were avoided thanks to antiretroviral therapy. Incidence of HIV fell in 33 countries, 22 of them in hard-hit Sub-Saharan Africa. HIV infection among children has fallen 15 percent since 2001, and 21 percent below the number of new infections in 1997.

But an issue that is global is, by nature, also entrenched at the local level. Here in Illinois, AIDS killed 12,506 people between 1990 and 1999. Since then, deaths have decreased dramatically, with only 250 deaths reported in 2010. 

There is progress, but AIDS is present in our community. The numbers are not large; As of June 2012, 185 AIDS-infected individuals live in Champaign County as of June, with only of eight new cases reported in that month, according the Illinois Department of Public Health. 

It would be easy to look at AIDS as a problem on the way out, but this ignores the astounding level of challenge overcome since the disease broke on the global landscape. There has been progress, but, the reality is that disease continues to be transmitted despite enormous education and outreach efforts here and around the world.

For University students, that means we are not entirely removed from a possible infection; as of 2010 about 12,000 young people between the ages of 13 and 24, or about 1,000 per month, were infected with HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We may be a school that was awarded first place out of 141 schools in sexual health resources, but University students have little excuse for not staying diligent. And while AIDS remains a global problem, taking responsibility for ourselves — by staying educated, getting tested, and being careful with our partners — is a surefire way to hasten a true end of AIDS for all.