via the New York Times, by Lawrence K. Altman
WASHINGTON — Is the world on the verge of ending the AIDS epidemic and creating an AIDS-free generation, even though a cure and a vaccine are still distant hopes?
Among those gains: antiretroviral drug combinations for women to prevent infection of their newborns; drugs to treat and prevent infection with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, among adults; and evidence that voluntary male circumcision can reduce the risk of female-to-male transmission by 50 to 60 percent.
Today, H.I.V. has become a chronic disease that, if treated appropriately, can be held at bay in a newly infected young adult for decades — if the patient adheres to the rigid daily drug regimen.
Michel Sidibé, the executive director of the United Nations AIDS agency, said that the opportunity to end AIDS will “evaporate” if governments do not show greater political will and increase investments to make gains available to millions more people.
“All that can stop us now is indecision and lack of courage,” he said.
Read the rest.
[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position. Please look for us on Facebook here www.facebook.com/MappingPathways and you can follow us on Twitter @mappingpathways as well.]
WASHINGTON — Is the world on the verge of ending the AIDS epidemic and creating an AIDS-free generation, even though a cure and a vaccine are still distant hopes?
Yes, roared enthusiasts among the nearly 24,000 participants at the 19th International AIDS Conference here last week. Their hopes are based on the extraordinary scientific gains made since the conference was last held in the United States, 22 years ago, when an AIDS diagnosis was a sure death sentence.
Among those gains: antiretroviral drug combinations for women to prevent infection of their newborns; drugs to treat and prevent infection with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, among adults; and evidence that voluntary male circumcision can reduce the risk of female-to-male transmission by 50 to 60 percent.
Today, H.I.V. has become a chronic disease that, if treated appropriately, can be held at bay in a newly infected young adult for decades — if the patient adheres to the rigid daily drug regimen.
Michel Sidibé, the executive director of the United Nations AIDS agency, said that the opportunity to end AIDS will “evaporate” if governments do not show greater political will and increase investments to make gains available to millions more people.
“All that can stop us now is indecision and lack of courage,” he said.
Read the rest.
[Content that is linked from other sources is for informational purposes and should not construe a Mapping Pathways position. Please look for us on Facebook here www.facebook.com/MappingPathways and you can follow us on Twitter @mappingpathways as well.]
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