Public health now has the tools to eradicate HIV. But it takes a lot more than a pill to reach the “hard to reach” populations, people who 40 years into the epidemic are still most at risk of contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS
Given recent biomedical and public health advances, the Trump administration sees the time as ripe for an audacious plan to slash new HIV infections in the U.S. by 75 percent within five years, and by 90 percent within 10. Medicines, if made affordable and taken correctly, can suppress the virus to undetectable levels, reducing transmission. Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or “PrEP,” drugs can prevent infection in people at high risk.
“A lot of our clients … are below the poverty level, well below the poverty level. Most are zero-income and a lot of their issues are bigger than HIV,” said Selena Lowery, the lead case manager at the South Carolina HIV Council’s Wright Wellness Center in Columbia, South Carolina, which has been helping the Dingell family.
Lenatte Henry, the Wright Wellness Center’s outreach specialist, who spends a lot of her time trying to get the 20 to 30 percent of clients who drop out of HIV treatment back into care, says the main reasons people stop treatment are addiction, homelessness and general financial troubles. Everyday struggles leave little room for keeping track of pills and getting to appointments.
Gilead in May announced it would donate enough PrEP medicine to treat 200,000 at-risk people for a decade. But critics fear the largess may slow down the adoption of cheaper generics. They contend that Gilead — whose high profits were just the subject of a— could do a lot more to wipe out HIV simply by lowering its drug prices. The company was dogged by similar criticism for its high-priced hepatitis C medications. The PrEP drug Gilead sells for $1,600 a month in the U.S.
And government funding has moved away from AIDS education and efforts to combat stigma, on the theory that the country has largely gotten the basic facts about HIV treatment and transmission. But in wide swathes of the country that’s not the case. People still think AIDS is an untreatable, fatal disease that can be spread through casual contact.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A mutation that protects against AIDS otherwise shortens livesThe case of CCR5 illuminates the risks of genetic tinkering
Read more »
Melania Trump compared to Jackie Kennedy as she departs Ireland in headscarfThe Trumps have ended their whirlwind and royal-packed five-day state visit toEurope
Read more »
The Trumps In Britain: From Pomp And Royal Glitz To Politics, Business And ProtestsThe Trumps in Britain—from pomp and royal glitz to politics, business and protests:
Read more »
Teleprompter Trump vs. Twitter Trump'Yes, Teleprompter Trump can emerge for an hour, a day or even a week. But, in the end, Twitter Trump always wins out,' writes CillizzaCNN
Read more »
Trump signs long-delayed $19.1B disaster aid billPresident Donald Trump has signed a long-delayed $19.1 billion disaster aid bill aimed at helping communities across the country bounce back from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and fires
Read more »
Trump signs long-delayed $19.1B disaster aid billWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed a $19.1 billion disaster aid bill aimed at helping communities across the country bounce back from hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and fires. Trump tweeted a photo of himself holding the signed bill in what appeared to his office aboard Air Force One.
Read more »