Every 9.5 minutes, another person in the US is infected with HIV (pictured). Today, the Obama administration announced a plan to reduce that number by 25% in 5 years — or about one person every 12 minutes — a goal officials say is as aggressive as it is realistic.

Some progress in reducing the rate of infection has made Americans complacent, said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in the blue-curtained South Court Auditorium of the White House. “We’re keeping pace when we should be gaining ground.” Some 1.1 million Americans live with HIV and there are 56,000 new infections annually.

The plan aims to reduce some of the disparities in treatment between rich and poor, and to more quickly connect newly diagnosed patients to clinical care. The administration wants to boost the proportion of patients who are receiving care within three months of their diagnosis to 85%, up from 65%.

How will they do all this, with little in the way of new money to spend? Like the plan implemented during the Bush-era steps, the AP reports, the Obama administration says it will make money go further, with inter-agency coordination that prevents wasted, duplicated efforts.

The optimistic policy could be coming at a good time. Last week, scientists reported the discovery of two human antibodies that could be used to design vaccines. And this morning, a report from UNAIDS, a United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS, said new infections among young people in the 15 most affected countries are dropping significantly as they embrace safer sexual behaviours.

Bill Gates, who spends much of his foundation’s money on HIV and AIDS work, was also pushing the agenda. In a preview of a speech on HIV prevention that he’ll give at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna next week, Gates told reporters today, “I hope AIDS stays in the headlines.”

Image: C. Goldsmith/Wikipedia