AIDS progress and insight

This is not the post I had planned for today, but as this issue has been staying in the news I could not resist.

What I have been hearing and reading is that the funding for treating AIDS is really taking a hit as countries around the world are having financial difficulties. Though a good deal of funding for AIDS treatment and research does come from independent sources, specifically Bill and Melinda Gates, many AIDS activists (for lack of a better term) are sounding alarms.

IN the last two days I have become more aware of a push for prevention. This was pronounced again in a WSJ article describing a promising research study. In that smallish, but well controlled study, women using a medicinal, vaginal gel, significantly reduced their risk for contracting HIV through intercourse. The particular study involved South African women. Many countries in Africa also have high rates of HIV and AIDS, including in pregnant women and children.


This study, which must be replicated and was not a clinical trial with regard to drug approval, is still important. However, in the WSJ article an AIDS researcher was quoted as saying something to the effect of how costly the treatment of AIDS has become and that the real effort should be in preventing it in the first place. YOU THINK? Do you think maybe we should spend time, talent and dollars on PREVENTION - oh my gosh, the guy is a genius!

Maybe I should go back to school to see if I can help with this prevention idea, maybe even, I know this will sound CRAZY, but maybe we could save money also if we worked to prevent OBESITY.

(after note: You might wonder about the human subject disclaimer and consent waiver in the AIDS/HIV research. I do too. I did not read the study protocol for the research I referenced though I have read others. IN some instances, the researchers educate the participants on how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases by abstinence and condom use. They might then ask them to use their "medicine/gel" if they choose to have unprotected sex and to keep a record of the times that they do. In other words, the research outcomes will have to be considered in this context.)