--- title: HIV Treatment Works, Says CDC description: Encouraging people to seek treatment is key canonical: https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-17T16:43:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:39.633Z article:section: Health og:title: HIV Treatment Works, Says CDC og:description: Encouraging people to seek treatment is key og:url: https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0110050f957a0bb/6986a3d63bc99961fb1a558c/hiv_poster_cedric_cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3475 og:image:height: 1955 og:image:alt: hiv_poster_cedric_cdc og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: HIV Treatment Works, Says CDC twitter:description: Encouraging people to seek treatment is key twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0110050f957a0bb/6986a3d63bc99961fb1a558c/hiv_poster_cedric_cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 02:32 video:published: 2014-08-13 section: health topics: Ebola outbreak, infectious disease response, West Africa healthcare, hospital infection control, isolation units, antibiotic stewardship, drug-resistant bacteria, public health surge resources genre: news, interview tones: serious, urgent, measured, compassionate emotions: concern (high), fear (medium), determination (medium), compassion (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: general public, healthcare workers, policymakers, hospital administrators organizations: CDC content_suitability: health controversy [02:07-02:32]; death [02:07-02:23] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # HIV Treatment Works, Says CDC > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=a8dbb080-4494-43b0-a41c-78b6f3fcd823&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/G194AmTC.m3u8) (2:32)  _Published 2014-08-13. Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary A CDC-related segment on the 2014 Ebola outbreak, describing it as unprecedented and a marathon rather than a sprint. The speaker discusses the threats facing public health work, the need for surge resources sustained over months, and how US hospitals can safely isolate and care for Ebola patients. The video closes by stressing that stopping the outbreak at its source in Africa best protects Americans and urging that fear not undermine compassion. ## Key points - The speaker describes the Ebola outbreak as unprecedented and says it is a marathon, not a sprint. (00:02) - West Africa was identified as a very weak link, and the speaker says the system is only as strong as its weakest link. (00:11) - Small clinics in West Africa are one-room places where sick people may be cared for by an auxiliary nurse with limited medical training, not at US standards. (00:19) - The speaker lists three main threats: new organisms, drug-resistant bacteria, and intentionally created organisms. (00:30) - Any hospital that can isolate a patient in a single room with a bathroom and follow infection control recommendations is capable of safely caring for an Ebola patient. (01:21) - The speaker says surge resources will need to be maintained for many months to fully control the outbreak. (01:51) - The single most important way to protect Americans from Ebola is stopping it at the source in Africa. (02:07) - The speaker says it is normal to be scared of Ebola but hopes fear never undermines compassion. (02:23) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:16] Unprecedented outbreak and weak links. The speaker frames the Ebola outbreak as unprecedented and attributes its spread to weak links in West Africa. - [00:16 to 00:33] Limited clinics and main threats. The speaker describes small clinics with limited training and lists three main threats to public health. - [00:33 to 01:06] Improving responses and protocols. The speaker discusses re-evaluating protocols and understanding public and governmental responses to outbreaks. - [01:06 to 01:32] Designing units for infectious patients. The speaker explains that hospitals with single isolation rooms and proper infection control can safely care for Ebola patients. - [01:32 to 01:57] Antibiotic stewardship and sustained surge. The speaker mentions antibiotic stewardship programs and the need to sustain resource surges for months. - [01:57 to 02:32] Stopping Ebola at the source. The speaker argues Ebola is best stopped in Africa and urges compassion over fear. ## Key quotes - [00:02] Speaker: "This Ebola outbreak is unprecedented." - [00:02] Speaker: "This is definitely a marathon and not a sprint." - [00:11] Speaker: "We are only as strong as the weakest link" - [01:21] Speaker: "Any hospital that can isolate a patient in a single patient room with a bathroom and can follow our infection control recommendations is capable of safely caring for a patient with Ebola." - [02:07] Speaker: "The single most important thing to understand about protecting Americans from Ebola is that can best be done by stopping it at the source in Africa." - [02:23] Speaker: "for the general public I really hope we can never let our fear undermine our compassion." ## Questions this video answers - Why is the Ebola outbreak described as unprecedented? [00:02] - Why was West Africa considered a weak link? [00:11] - What are the three main threats the speaker identifies? [00:30] - What is needed for a US hospital to safely care for an Ebola patient? [01:21] - How long will surge resources need to be maintained? [01:51] - What is the best way to protect Americans from Ebola? [02:07] ## Content suitability - health controversy [02:07-02:32]: Discusses the public fear and risk of an Ebola outbreak reaching the US. - death [02:07-02:23]: References Ebola as a deadly disease.  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Sep 17, 2014 4:43 PM UTC  CDC  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Sep 17, 2014 4:43 PM UTC With the input of more than 100 people living with HIV, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched a new ad campaign today called “[HIV Treatment Works](http://www.cdc.gov/actagainstaids/campaigns/hivtreatmentworks/index.html).” The message: If you’re HIV positive, get treatment early and stick with it. Many people don’t immediately start or stay on medication for a variety of reasons, including the cost of the drugs, poor access to health care, a lack of knowledge about effective treatments, and stigma about the disease, says Dr. Nick DeLuca, Chief of the Prevention Communication Branch in the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at CDC. Of the 1.1 million Americans living with HIV, only 1 in 4 have an undetectable viral load, the CDC says, which means that the viral levels in their blood are suppressed and are unlikely to be transmitted to other people. At least some of that rate, the CDC says, is due to a lack of adherence to medication. Though antiretroviral therapy requires daily medication and frequent doctor visits and blood draws, it’s highly effective. “We know that if we get individuals living with HIV on treatment early, it’s the best thing to improve their individual health,” DeLuca says. People who start and continue treatment are 96% less likely to transmit it to others, and they’re less likely to get sick themselves because of improved immune function. About 50,000 Americans per year contract HIV, a rate that’s remained steady since the mid-1990s. Of the new infections, 44% are African-Americans; black males are especially at risk. About a quarter of all new infections happened in people between ages 13-24. ## Transcript [00:02] This Ebola outbreak is unprecedented. This is [00:05] definitely a marathon and not a sprint. The bugs have [00:08] evolved. The outbreak has gotten bigger. We are only [00:11] as strong as the weakest link, and we have learned [00:13] from Ebola that West Africa was a very weak link. [00:16] [ MUSIC ] [00:19] There's small clinics, these are like one room places [00:22] where sick people might go in their house with maybe [00:25] an auxiliary nurse as some one who has a little bit of [00:27] medical training, but defiantly not the same standards [00:30] that we would have here in the US. We're facing 3 main [00:33] threats. The first is the threat of new organisms. It was [00:36] coming and spreading in different places. The second [00:40] is drug- resistant bacteria, and the third are [00:43] intentionally created organisms. What we do in an [00:46] outbreak response is continuously see how can we [00:49] make it better. The exercises we've gone through [00:53] both, re- evaluating our own protocols but also [00:55] understanding what the public and governmental [00:58] responses are has really helped us understand. How [01:01] to take care of these patients in the larger context of [01:04] our healthcare systems. And, those who are in the [01:06] building, I would urge you to come down to either the [01:07] ops team room, or the, When [01:11] designing a unit that is designed to accept patients [01:16] with serious communicable diseases, like Ebola, there [01:18] are ways to design a unit so that it's function. [01:21] Functional. Any hospital that can isolate a patient in a [01:24] single patient room with a bathroom and can follow our [01:27] infection control recommendations is capable of safely [01:30] caring for a patient with Ebola. And we've tried to [01:32] encourage every single hospital in the country to have [01:35] an antibiotic stewardship program to improve [01:38] antibiotic prescribing practices. There [01:42] is a concern about fatigue as we go on that, [01:46] the CDC other groups have sort of ramping up now to [01:48] try to surge resources into the area. What we're also [01:51] realizing is, we need to be able to maintain that surge [01:55] for many months to keep the pressure on to [01:57] completely control the outbreak. Time [02:02] will tell in the next few weeks if we can start to see [02:04] those numbers going in the right direction. Fewer new [02:07] cases each day or each week. The single most [02:11] important thing to understand about protecting [02:13] Americans from Ebola is that can best be done by [02:16] stopping it at the source in Africa. Its normal to be [02:20] scared of something as deadly as Ebola and for the [02:23] general public I really hope we can never let our fear [02:27] undermine our compassion. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/"},"headline":"HIV Treatment Works, Says CDC","datePublished":"2014-09-17T16:43:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:39.633Z","description":"Encouraging people to seek treatment is key","url":"https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","CDC","HIV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0110050f957a0bb/6986a3d63bc99961fb1a558c/hiv_poster_cedric_cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mandy Oaklander","jobTitle":"Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0110050f957a0bb/6986a3d63bc99961fb1a558c/hiv_poster_cedric_cdc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"hiv_poster_cedric_cdc","caption":"","creditText":"CDC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/","name":"HIV Treatment Works, Says CDC"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola","description":"Meet The CDC Doctors Fighting Ebola","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/G194AmTC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-13T23:41:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/G194AmTC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/","duration":"PT2M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3393657/hiv-treatment-works-cdc/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```