Over Christmas break a newborn was cured of HIV, and now, with increased research, it seems that a cure for one of the most defining diseases of a generation may be in sight. That doesn’t mean that the 2.5 million people who the New York Times predicts will become infected this year will be out of immediate life threatening danger. What it does mean, however, is that a cure is possible and that this cure will likely be produced in the near future.
Throughout history, wide scale diseases have claimed the lives of large populations and helped define periods of human history. Typhoid Mary, the black plague and more recently TB and polio have all had devastating results and bring about horrible pictures of death and suffering.
Out of the myriad of life threatening diseases of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, cancer and AIDS are two of the biggest killers. No, a diagnosis is not a guaranteed death sentence but it is not a walk in the park either. Charity walks almost always have special recognition for survivors, but for individuals and their families, AIDS can bring about a new set of challenges and struggles that no one would chose to live with.
A potential AIDS vaccine shows medical science at its best, where a problem is addressed and people and research teams from all over the world band together to accomplish a common goal. When AIDS was first discovered in the 1970s it was hailed as “the gay disease” because it was found primarily in the gay community, but now it has spread to all corners of the world infecting gay and straight, men and women and even babies. The current cocktail of drugs is expensive, but the New York Times predicts that if a vaccine could be produced it may cost just pennies and therefore be more accessible to people in impoverished nations. One day, babies may receive an AIDS shot along with the polio and hepatitis vaccines, so they will never have to know the heartbreak and devastation of HIV/AIDS.
The vaccine is not available yet but it looms on the horizon as a silver lining to the millions of infected people worldwide. Pay attention because when a vaccine is produced and approved by the FDA it will make headlines worldwide and likely give the research team a well-deserved Nobel Prize. In a world filled with corrupt governments, failing economies, and fights for human rights, an AIDS vaccine will provide a much needed positive unifier that shows that, in some cases, it does get better.
