Day 66: Taming an epidemic

HIV/AIDS is one of those foggy concepts that I remember from my childhood.  I have memories of watching stories about it on the news.  Understanding that the spread of it was increasing rapidly, creating an epidemic.  Images of Tom Hanks playing an HIV/AIDS patient in the movie "Philadelphia" flash through my mind.  In my more recent past, I have watched numerous prevention videos in my college courses, and at work in the medical setting, on ways you can and cannot contract the virus.

I am thankful to know that our understanding of this disease is improving.  There are still people contracting HIV/AIDS, but as you can see from this chart, the number of those infected is stabilizing.  According to Avert.org, "the annual number of new HIV infections has steadily declined and due to the significant increase in people receiving antiretroviral therapy, the number of AIDS-related deaths has also declined."  Still, a cure seems to be a long way off...or is it?

"On the heels of World AIDS Day comes a stunning medical breakthrough: Doctors believe an HIV-positive man who underwent a stem cell transplant has been cured as a result of the procedure.

Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the "Berlin Patient," received the transplant in 2007 as part of a lengthy treatment course for leukemia. His doctors recently published a report in the journal Blood affirming that the results of extensive testing "strongly suggest that cure of HIV infection has been achieved."

Brown's case paves a path for constructing a permanent cure for HIV through genetically-engineered stem cells.

Last week, Time named another AIDS-related discovery to its list of the Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs of 2010. Recent studies show that healthy individuals who take antiretrovirals, medicine commonly prescribed for treating HIV, can reduce their risk of contracting the disease by up to 73 percent.

While these developments by no means prove a cure for the virus has been found, they can certainly provide hope for the more than 33 million people living with HIV worldwide. Alongside such findings, global efforts to combat the epidemic have accelerated as of late, with new initiatives emerging in the Philippines and South Africa this week." Huffington Post

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