If mass screening and treatment for HIV/AIDS is carried out, it has been predicted that the virus could potentially be eradicated from society by 2050.

A leading scientist has claimed that HIV/AIDS could be wiped from society within 40 years if blanket AIDS tests are carried out and people treated immediately.

According to a lead researcher, Dr Brian Williams of the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (SACEMA), transmission of the disease could be halted by 2015 if mass worldwide tests are carried out.

Those found to be infected would be treated with antiretroviral drugs (ARV), which, if taken within a year of being infected, could reduce the risk of transmission ten-fold, to a level where the likelihood of passing the virus on is very unlikely.

This could potentially lead to the HIV/AIDS epidemic being wiped from society by 2050, when most of the carriers being treated will have died.

Dr Williams spoke at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He said: “Over the past 25 years we have saved the lives of probably two to three million people using antiretroviral drugs, but almost nothing we have done has had any impact on transmission of the disease.

“We have stopped people dying but we haven’t stopped the epidemic. The question is, can we use these drugs not only to keep people alive, but also to stop transmission and I believe that we can. We could effectively stop transmission of HIV in five years.”

There are around 35 million people infected with HIV worldwide. Pilot schemes are planned for Africa and the US in which mass testing for HIV will occur, followed by the prescription of ARVs to those infected.

According to Professor Meyer from Brown University, the number of HIV-infected people in the US is 1 in 300, though in cities such as Washington D.C. the number is as high as 1 in 15. Approximately 20-25% of HIV-infected people in the US are unaware they are infected, which is why mass testing and treatment could be the answer to ending the pandemic.