Since HIV/Aids became part of the public consciousness in the 1980s, things certainly have changed for the better for people living with the disease.

The popular view that it was a gay disease is nothing but a memory now, and the dire medical implications of being diagnosed HIV-positive are much less severe in the 21st century than it was in the hundred years before.

While we still do not have an outright cure, today the disease is a very manageable one; provided that access to proper care is available – but, then again, that is true of every disease.

The point is that, medically speaking, we seem to have a handle on the scourge.

On page 10, we look at how the life expectancy ratio for those diagnosed HIV-positive has increased substantially from the past – a turn of events that would have been difficult to conceive not too long ago.

But despite our medical victories, over time we are uncovering new problems.

On page 20, we examine the potential negative effects of antiretroviral treatment – something we have never been able to study in the past, but it is something we need to be considering now.

And let us not forget that while we seem to have HIV treatment under control, dealing with the opportunistic infections can be a difficult challenge for doctors; read about this on page 32.

HIV is still a problem in this country and the world at large, but we should take solace in the fact that the changing nature of the challenges over the past few decades means that we are making progress.

And given what has happened in that time – that people are able to live longer and more productive lives – it is no longer difficult to contemplate a future without HIV/Aids.