Cure-alls are a myth

The global response to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic put global health on the map. The global science community, especially in wealthier countries with major research capabilities, tackled the virus head on and new antiretroviral medications were patented by the 1990s and 2000s. The world could rest easy knowing that AIDS cocktails could be distributed to the masses to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic at $10,000-15,000 per patient per year.

The problems with this outcome are numerous, including education, access, and focus. A family of medications has caused a number of problems that go beyond the epidemic itself and bleed into many facets of society.

One of the biggest problems lies in education and distribution knowledge about the HIV virus and what spreads it. The view that HIV is a “gay disease,” that there is a connection between the virus and the queer community continues to this day. Uganda, infamous for its legislation against homosexuality, has closed a US-funded HIV project. The government has cited that the Walter Reed Project “trains youths in homosexuality.” The demonization of certain groups in connection to spreading the disease remains a huge problem around the world, including in nations that seem to have a more “lenient” view. Is all the attention placed on developing new drugs taking away from educational initiatives so people can understand the semantics of the disease?

Intellectual property rights have caused a monopoly by pharmaceutical companies over the secret “recipes” of HIV/AIDS medications. Do private companies have the right to keep the rights to their medications? Medical treatments for HIV/AIDS are subsidized by wealthier countries, where many of these medications originate. The cost is so prohibitive for some medications that generics from countries like India are becoming more and more popular, adding up to $93 billion in trade in the United States alone.

The focus on treating HIV/AIDS is also distracting from other problems that many people in a country face. With the rise of global health, a large percent of donations go specifically to HIV/AIDS treatment. How much money goes to preventive measures, like safe sex education and prophylactics? Is money going to training medical professionals or building more infrastructure?

Medications are an integral part to treating HIV/AIDS, but I also wonder what we’re losing by focusing too heavily on the physical treatment rather than risk factors that affect the spread.