It's About Steps...

 

HIV has been with us for decades & some wonder why a cure hasn't been discovered.  There are a lot of illnesses with no cures.  Some don't even have treatments.  HIV is a difficult puzzle to solve & there's always the question of funding.  There's also a possibility drug companies don't want to lose money, so there may never be a cure.

When the virus was 1st discovered there was nothing for it, not even a proper name.  Slowly things evolved.  It wasn't until the later 80s they started treating HIV with AZT, but it was harsh & didn't do the job by itself.  They slowly introduced other meds along side it to boost efficacy.  It wasn't until the mid 90s deaths from HIV started leveling off.

I was diagnosed in 2000 & was given 5 years to live.  I was taking a handful of meds every few hours.  They helped with the HIV, but they were hard to handle.  Slowly my meds changed & I was no longer on the handfuls of horse pills.   I was still dealing with quite a few for years.  They took their toll of me; my hair, teeth, digestion, etc...  Then came my regimen of 1 pill a day.  It was so strange after years of mass pills, to only take a single dose.  Even that med was replaced with a better option.

The point is, there were a lot of steps.  Now, we're moving into the age of long acting injectables.  Some are given every couple of months to twice a year.  These injections can make adhering to a regimen possible for a lot of people.  If these long acting injections are given & viral loads maintained, these people can't transmit the virus.  In a decade or generation, if enough people were treated, HIV could become just a memory.

There problem with is what it always is; funding, logistics & willingness.  None of those things will ever be a given.  Stigma & ignorance challenge willingness.  War, disaster & distance are issues for logistics.  The orange stain & those like him will always complicate funding.  We may have the means to end HIV, but due to social, political & economic factors, it may never happen.  That's on us as a people.  If this continues for generations, it's our failure.  We refused to take the necessary steps.

That's it for now, take care.

Cya...