Is the government doing enough to prevent HIV-AIDS?
In the 30 years since the AIDS pandemic broke, some 30 million people around the world have died. But on this World AIDS Day, researchers, advocates and global health leaders are cautiously optimistic.
Since it peaked in the late 1990s, the disease attacking the immune system (the acronym stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has gradually begun to decline. Medical advances have made AIDS / HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the infection causing AIDS) less of the fearsome death sentence it was upon emerging in the 1980s, and more of a treatable long-term disease.
Fewer people are dying as a result of AIDS complications – 20 percent fewer, according to an NPR report – while new infections are down by 19 percent. And last month, researchers announced a new treatment called Truvada, a pill that in studies lowered the risk of HIV infection by 44 percent. It’s not an AIDS vaccine or cure, but rather a treatment that prevents infection before it can happen, and experts are calling it “the most important development in years in the fight against HIV / AIDS.”
But with the promising news come sobering reminders of the challenges that remain. The drug, right now, is expensive – $1,110 a month, which amounts to almost $13,000 a year. For many AIDS patients, this is unaffordable. Furthermore, in order to be effective, the pill must be taken daily. This begs practical questions; research shows that people at the greatest risk for this sexually transmitted disease don’t always practice safe sex by using a condom, and if they can’t remember to do that, will they remember to take a pill every day?
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The AIDS Drug Assistance Program is an example of state governments working with the federal government. Hospitals and treatment centers are regulated at the state level, but the federal government is able to provide extra financial support on occasion, since each hospital (and each state, for that matter) has a different economic makeup. It does this through the Department of Health and Human Services, an office of the executive branch with a seat in the president’s cabinet.
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Another wrinkle is government support of research, care and prevention. The U.S. government has been active in this area: in July 2010, President Barack Obama issued the first National Plan on HIV / AIDS that gave $26 million to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifically to prevent the spread of HIV in the U.S. That same month, an additional $25 million was issued from the Department of Health and Human Services’ AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which helps states offer patients free medications to treat the disease.
Critics point out that there are still numerous states on the waiting list for this program, and that these figures are just drops in the bucket of overall health care spending. But the support given by the United States is arguably more than what’s seen in some third world countries. An editorial in the St. Louis Tribune pulled no punches: “Here’s another problem: Many of the prostitutes, wives and gay men who are most at risk of contracting AIDS aren’t highly valued by the societies in which they live. Even when the resources are available, political leaders often are reluctant to use them on ‘those people.’”
And the need is urgent. Deaths and infections are down, but that doesn’t mean that they are down to safe levels. NPR commentator Richard Knox pointed out that while there are 20 percent fewer deaths because of medical advances, for every person put on treatment, two more become infected.
“Clearly, the emphasis going forward has got to be on better and more widespread prevention efforts,” said Knox. “Treatment is always going to lag behind new infections.”
What do you think?
Is the government doing enough to support HIV-AIDS prevention? Do you think it could be doing more? If so, what? If not, why not? Do you think the recent development of an AIDS prevention pill will curb the spread of AIDS? What do you think is most important to spend money on – prevention, research or treatment?