The rate of HIV infection in the District has plummeted in the last decade.

D.C. officials said this week that there were 74 percent fewer HIV cases reported last year compared to 2007. The number of diagnosis dropped from 1,337 in 2007 to 347 last year, the Washington Post reported this week.

In 2016, less than one person a day was diagnosed with HIV in D.C., compared to nearly four each day in 2007.

City officials attributed the rapid decrease to increased awareness of the infection and preventative measures like distributing and removing needles from the street which can spread the infection.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said that while the District has made progress, there is still work to be done. D.C. has historically had one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS diagnosis in the country. The rate of infection remains at epidemic levels, with 13,000 residents living with HIV, according to the D.C. Health Department.

In 2013, GW researchers were awarded a $28 million grant to develop a cure for HIV. The University also has close ties to the DC Center for AIDS Research, an organization founded by Alan Greenberg, a researcher and professor in the Milken Institute School of Public Health.