Even though many acknowledge they are infected, merely 30 percent of Americans living with HIV are receiving treatment.

As of December 2013, 35 million people across the world are living with the virus, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.

Recent reports from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 1.2 million people suffer from HIV infection in the U.S., and almost one in seven (14 percent) are unaware of their infection. Coinciding with a 2011 study, the CDC found that 86 percent of those living with the virus are aware.

According to NBC News, however, a mere 40 percent are communicating with doctors or other medical providers to treat their HIV.

"When you have an infection, you treat it," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Tom Frieden explained. "People with HIV who achieve viral suppression aren't just healthier -- they're also less likely to infect others. Today's study shows too many people with HIV aren't getting the care they need."

Although the annual rate of diagnosis with HIV declined by more than 30 percent in the U.S. between 2002 and 2011, this year, 840,000 Americans have HIV in their bodies that is not getting medicated.

"Treatment is crucial. It is one of our most important strategies for stopping new HIV infections," said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, who heads CDC's AIDS branch.

Only 37 percent of people who are HIV positive have a prescription for the cocktail medication to manage the virus, while a 30 percent are controlling the virus effectively.

"We've got such great treatment of HIV now that people living with HIV can have an almost normal lifespan," Frieden said. "Taking treatment for an infection that may have no symptoms and that you need to take for life is not easy. That is why it is so important that services for people living with HIV be easy (to access)."

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