Some 33 million people worldwide are currently infected with the HIV virus, most of whom are sexually active and can spread the disease to uninfected, and often unsuspecting, partners. While drugs that treat HIV/AIDS are now available, it would be far preferable to prevent the disease from spreading to uninfected individuals. After fifteen years of unsuccessful efforts, preliminary results of two separate studies conducted in Africa in 2010 and 2011, using the Gilead Sciences anti-AIDS drug Viread (tenofovir) in a vaginal gel and pills, provide reason for optimism. Viread blocks reverse transcriptase, an enzyme the HIV virus requires for the synthesis of DNA. Without DNA, this virus cannot multiply.
In Africa, 60 percent of AIDS-infected individuals are women, virtually all of whom became infected through sexual interactions. For these women, preventing infection through abstinence, monogamous partners, or using condoms is beyond their control. Attempts have been made to develop a Viread vaginal gel that would allow them to reduce—although not necessarily eliminate—the need for the man’s cooperation. This same gel has been reformulated to be applied to the rectum for use by men and women to protect them from the risk of HIV infection after anal sex.
In other studies, a daily dose of pills containing either one (Viread) or two anti-AIDS drugs (Truvada) reduced the risk of infection in uninfected heterosexual men and women and gay men by 63–73 percent. In this study, a greater rate of protection was seen in the more medication-compliant subjects.
Many questions and challenges remain before AIDS prevention becomes an established reality. These products must be used daily or hours before intercourse. Long-acting products that work for months or even years after administration on a single occasion—such as an AIDS vaccine—would obviously prove far more effective and ideal. Affordability of these expensive drugs has been, and remains, a major challenge. A Medicines Patent Pool was established in 2010 that permits generic pharmaceutical companies to copy patented AIDS drugs at a very low price for use in developing countries.
SEE ALSO Smallpox Vaccine (1796), Fluorides (1945), Polio Vaccine (1954), AZT/Retrovir (1987), HAART (1996).
This illustration shows the AIDS Memorial Quilt, first displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in 1987. Over two decades, the quilt expanded in size from 1,920 panels to more than 48,000 panels, becoming the largest community-art project in the world.