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NEWS > HEALTH > AIDS REALLY NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM ANYMORE
AIDS REALLY NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM ANYMORE
November 25 2011
Washington, D.C. – For the last few decades no disease has gotten more attention and generated more fear than AIDS. Attacking our most primal instincts and nothing but deadly, AIDS has quite rightly earned its position as the most feared disease on the planet, even if it’s actual harm has been outstripped by its influence.
Still, the attention paid to the disease, whether because of fear or some other notion, has helped stem the spread of the disease and saved a lot of lives. The attention paid to the disease has also driven money and research into better treatments, which in turn has pushed the disease even further into the shadows, so much so that it is rapidly becoming a disease of the past.
“We've never had a year when there has been so much science, so much leadership and such results in one year. Even in this time of public finance crises and uncertainty about funding, we're seeing results. We are seeing more countries than ever before (achieving) significant reductions in new infections and stabilizing their epidemics,” UNAIDS director Michel Sidibe told Reuters.
Last year 1.8 million people died of AIDS related illnesses and a further 2.7 million were infected with HIV, both dramatic drops from the peak years. 
Much of the savings has been in poorer nations which are now being granted more access to drugs capable of dealing with the disease. Traditionally, poorer people had been left to die because of the high cost of the drugs.
“This is certainly good news. It’s far from a cure, to be sure, but it does mean that more and more people are both understanding the nature of the disease and preventing infection, and that people are living much longer with it and both of those are pretty good things for people,” said Scrape TV Science analyst Dr. Howard Poe. “The only downside is of course for the people who are researching the disease. They rely on grants and donations and most of those are motivated by the widespread nature of the disease. If that dissipates, so too will the money and a lot of researchers will be out of jobs, making them endangered.”
Already some facilities researching AIDS and HIV have been shuttered in the face of decreased donation, though that is primarily tied to economic hardships rather than disease penetration.
“Ultimately we may get to a stage where only a handful of researchers are even working on the disease, where drug companies no longer see profit in producing treatments, and that will allow the disease to surge back. When we forget about it, that’s when the real danger comes,” continued Poe. “No one wants that, of course, but that is the history of disease. It only gains power when people forget about it and by that stage it could become unstoppable and that is the real danger.”
Support for AIDS research, particularly in the West, has also been on a steady decline over the last few years. That is expected to continue.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
NEWS > HEALTH > AIDS REALLY NOT MUCH OF A PROBLEM ANYMORE
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