HIV Cure Nearly Impossible But Ending AIDS Entirely Possible
HIV Cure Nearly Impossible But Ending AIDS Entirely Possible
Achieving an end to epidemic AIDS will not be easy; we will face considerable challenges. We must recognize the need to continue to expand access to nonjudgmental and evidence-based prevention strategies and to be mindful and monitor for risk compensation (which has not been evident in clinical trials). We cannot be naïve to the challenges of life-long adherence to treatment and the risks for viral drug resistance. Careful thought must be given to how we monitor treatment success and treatment failure; increasing access to ART must be matched with access to viral load (rather than CD4 count) testing and, where possible, drug-resistance testing—strategies to identify people at risk for treatment-emergent drug resistance and the transmission of drug-resistant virus.
As we increase access to treatment, we must also recognize the right of well-informed individuals to opt in or opt out of taking medicines. While access to life-saving HIV treatments must be a human right, refusing treatment should be an individual right. Lastly, we must appreciate that stigma, discrimination, and criminalization are colossal challenges to HIV care programs; and, unless addressed, marginalized people in marginalized places are at risk of being left behind.
We have the tools to end epidemic AIDS.
We have the tools to end epidemic AIDS. But as a community, I fear that we lack the imagination to recognize that an epidemic that has killed so many for so long can indeed end. Without imagination, everything else is political theater. But it must not be just theater. From the 1983 Denver Principles to the Paris Declaration, from global health champions Dr Jonathan Mann to Dr Joep Lange, there is a deep foundation of health and human rights activism in the history of the HIV response.
Activism must demand and ensure that declarations are not simply words and signatures on pieces of paper but action. Yet activism is focused on the failure of Professor Barre-Sinoussi and her colleagues to deliver a cure for HIV but not on the promises delivered by effective treatments for HIV. A new generation of medical and community activists must have the imagination required to see the end of epidemic death and save millions of lives in just 5 years. Business as usual won't get us there—22 million people still don't have access to care and treatments. Business as usual jeopardizes the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The time to act is now.
Challenges Ahead
Achieving an end to epidemic AIDS will not be easy; we will face considerable challenges. We must recognize the need to continue to expand access to nonjudgmental and evidence-based prevention strategies and to be mindful and monitor for risk compensation (which has not been evident in clinical trials). We cannot be naïve to the challenges of life-long adherence to treatment and the risks for viral drug resistance. Careful thought must be given to how we monitor treatment success and treatment failure; increasing access to ART must be matched with access to viral load (rather than CD4 count) testing and, where possible, drug-resistance testing—strategies to identify people at risk for treatment-emergent drug resistance and the transmission of drug-resistant virus.
As we increase access to treatment, we must also recognize the right of well-informed individuals to opt in or opt out of taking medicines. While access to life-saving HIV treatments must be a human right, refusing treatment should be an individual right. Lastly, we must appreciate that stigma, discrimination, and criminalization are colossal challenges to HIV care programs; and, unless addressed, marginalized people in marginalized places are at risk of being left behind.
We have the tools to end epidemic AIDS.
We have the tools to end epidemic AIDS. But as a community, I fear that we lack the imagination to recognize that an epidemic that has killed so many for so long can indeed end. Without imagination, everything else is political theater. But it must not be just theater. From the 1983 Denver Principles to the Paris Declaration, from global health champions Dr Jonathan Mann to Dr Joep Lange, there is a deep foundation of health and human rights activism in the history of the HIV response.
Activism must demand and ensure that declarations are not simply words and signatures on pieces of paper but action. Yet activism is focused on the failure of Professor Barre-Sinoussi and her colleagues to deliver a cure for HIV but not on the promises delivered by effective treatments for HIV. A new generation of medical and community activists must have the imagination required to see the end of epidemic death and save millions of lives in just 5 years. Business as usual won't get us there—22 million people still don't have access to care and treatments. Business as usual jeopardizes the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The time to act is now.
Source...