Hopes Rise for a Post-AIDS Generation

Big month for the fight against HIV/AIDS: Two huge game-changers kicked in last May.

More of that in post-AIDS world.
Stencil from Beirut streets.

On May 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - undoubtedly the single most trusted regulatory force in the global pharmaceutical industry - approved Truvada, the first drug ever shown to prevent HIV infection. It’s sort of like a vaccine, that's recommended for sexually active gay men with 5 or more partners a year (easy to beat that!). If taken cautiously on a daily basis, its results are highly promising. The treatment is still quite expensive (10,000$+ a year) but hopefully that won't stay for long an obstacle in the way.

Better news yet: On May 29, researchers announced they had screened the first man in the world to be cured from HIV. You read that right. There is a Californian man whose name is Timothy Brown who was CURED FROM HIV. An innovative treatment based on stem cells allowed this miracle to happen. Check out this moving story of “The Man Who Had HIV and Now Does Not”.

Here’s to a world without HIV. One where modern medicine is back in power. Where these three dreadful letters no longer cross your mind every time you have any kind of sex.

Here’s to the end of us as the AIDS Generation. 

--GiB