AIDS: a sexually transmitted disease that until two years ago scientists declared to be incurable. Currently the end of AIDS could be in sight after a study found a drug that can be used to prevent the spread of the virus, so there would be no further infections. A study was held with 1,000 male couples where one partner was being treated to suppress the virus. There were no cases of transmission of the infection to the HIV-negative partner during unprotected intercourse. We could, very possibly, be on the brink of stopping the spread of a disease which has ravaged human society worldwide for generations.
In 2017, there were almost 40 million people worldwide living with HIV, of whom 21.7 million, half, were on antiretroviral treatment. An estimated 101,600 people are living with HIV in the UK, and of these, about 7,800 are undiagnosed, so do not know they are HIV positive. Although, scientists said that government funding cuts to specialist health services would make it more difficult to achieve a goal of eliminating transmission by 2030.
Alex Sparrowhawk is a 34 year old male that has been living with AIDS for ten years of his life. Being HIV positive would impact his work as a financial analyst and future relationships. Alex began taking the antiretroviral treatments immediately, starting with four pills and then down to one as the virus load came down. In the past nine years Alex has not transmitted the disease to any other males.
Many scientists that have been working on the cure for the past three years to try and create a stop to this horrible illness. We don’t want to focus on the painful losses such as Freddie Mercury, Keith Haring and Eazy-E, but the lives we can prevent from curing HIV/AIDS.
