With the scourge of HIV/AIDS continuing to plague mankind, the 21st International AIDS Conference saw the participation of thousands of attendees from different walks of life in order to pursue the eradication of this illness.
According to Vine Report, this event was held in Durban, South Africa from July 18 to 22. The event saw scientists, advocates, philantrophists and even those afflicted by HIV all coming from 180 different countries to share their own experiences and further their cause in search of a cure. After all, this illness has claimed the lives of countless people throughout the years due to its ability to stop the body from fighting other infections. But with everyone's efforts, HIV/AIDS has seen a significant drop in cases annually.
The executive director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, said that research and innovation are much needed in order to come up with a vaccine and a subsequent cure. According to the AIDS Map, no country has yet achieved the UNAIDS vision of having 90 percent of HIV-positive people diagnosed, 90 percent of diagnosed people on therapy and 90 percent of the treated people virally suppressed. So far, 41 percent of HIV-positive people globally has received antiretroviral therapy (ART), and the coverage of healthcare still remains low in a lot of locations.
The North Carolina Health News points out that while humanity is making great strides in terms of making a viable cure, there is still little indication about the time needed to realistically produce it. They asked Wes Thompson, a participant in the International AIDS Conference, about it, and he said that the destruction of the latent or hidden virus remains to be the greatest challenge to finding a cure. As such, it will need to have a multi-pronged approach, so a cure is still far from being released.
For now, people are advised to focus on preventive measures and wait until more updates are made.
