After 25, why have not found drugs to treat AIDS?

Many AIDS treatment regimens are used to change the course of the disease such as: massage, acupressure, acupuncture and natural herbs . However, there are no measures to change the disease. in a positive direction.

In 1981, the mysterious virus was discovered in the body of a gay man in the Western United States and named the GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency). Due to the struggles of lobby groups and special interests, scientists decided to change the new virus to HIV.

AIDS was originally thought to be a homosexual disease. But this concept has completely changed in the other direction, it can kill millions of men and women (currently there are over 17 million women living with AIDS). It has been more than a generation since the first day of discovery of the virus. Many families, fate are ruined by AIDS. Many countries are being degraded because of this disease. Millions of dollars are used for caring for patients. Until now, humans have not found an effective vaccine to treat patients. Why so?

A global pandemic .

Currently 40 million people worldwide are living with this disease. The number is larger than Canada's population. In fact the impact of AIDS is huge. Therefore it is no coincidence that the United Nations considers this as one of the issues that determine the development and security issues of the world today.

In 2005, there were 3 million deaths (an average of 8,500 deaths per day) and in the next 2 years there will be about 6 million more people losing their ability to resist the disease. No one country is outside this 'storm'. Below is an overview of this disease globally.

North America : In the United States there are currently more than 1 million people living with AIDS. Each year about 40,000 new infected people. Many of them are young people under the age of 25. Subjects of infection are still mainly in people with unfaithful relations, homosexual relationships and drug use. Recently, there are also people who use methamphetamine.

Western Europe : In this region there are about 570,000 to 890,000 people infected with HIV. Mortality rates in these countries have declined since the 1990s, as these countries have conditions to treat long-term life-long therapies. However, many countries still cannot control the number of infected people. So this number has not been evaluated as positive.

Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A proof that the proportion of AIDS patients is increasing significantly in these two areas. An estimated 1.5 million people live with AIDS. This rate is increasing, leading to economic and social degradation. Besides, there is an increase in drug use.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2005 in Russia the number of HIV infected people is 257,000. 1995 was 15,000. WHO expects this number to continue to increase. Infection occurs mainly through unhealthy sex and drug use among young people. More than 80% of people under the age of 30.

Middle East and North Asia: The number of cases in these two areas is low. Estimated about 440,000. The path of infection is very diverse: unfaithful relations, prostitutes and smokers.

East Asia : Although the rate of AIDS in this area is low, there are still many people suffering from this disease because the population in this area is quite large. In the panorama in this area emerged China. An estimated 1.5 million people are infected. There are about 10,000 people in rural areas. Because many farmers initially did not transmit blood safely.

Oceania : There are about 78,000 people with HIV in Australia, New Zealand and some other countries and territories. The death rate here is low because these countries apply better treatments than other regions.

Africa : Compared to other regions, the sub-Saharan region is the most powerful epidemic in the world. Although only about 10% of the world's population, 64% of the population lives with HIV.

In 2005, there were about 12 million orphans infected with HIV in this area. In 35 African countries with the highest rate of AIDS spread, the average life expectancy is only 48. 7-year-old decline compared to before the outbreak of the disease has not yet occurred.

In the south of Africa, spread rates exceed 20% and 30% in the two countries Swaziland and Botswana. The number of infections in South Africa is 5.5 million, accounting for 12% of the population.

AIDS has made the economies of many countries go backwards, especially in third-world countries. The United Nations estimates that in 2025, 90 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will be infected.

More and more people are infected with HIV means a decline in labor resources and increased costs for medical care. This case is happening to Africa.

Journey to find treatment .

In the first decades of the disease, many treatment regimens were applied to change the course of the disease such as: massage, reflexology, acupuncture and natural herbs . However, no What measures can change the disease in a positive way.

In recent years, a series of pharmaceutical products have been established, which can prolong the lives of patients. Prevent the recurrence of the virus in the body. But these drugs do not have a complete healing effect.

Besides, there are some side effects such as headache, rash, fatigue, affecting the liver, kidneys . Many patients show drug resistance.

Therefore, scientists are continuing to study measures to reduce these risks and improve the effectiveness of drugs for this disease. However, 25 years of research has not had any vaccine to promote absolute effectiveness.

Global response

From many years ago, the AIDS problem was paid special attention by the whole world. That has led to many initiatives being introduced. The United Nations established a special Committee on HIV / AIDS. A global fund for the fight against AIDS has also been established. There are also many other important initiatives .

Despite the initiatives of countries, the Government and organizations about AIDS. The amount of money is very large but the effectiveness has not changed much yet. UNAIDS (United Nations Agency for AIDS Control) estimates that the cost of AIDS prevention has risen from US $ 300 million in 1996 to US $ 8.3 billion in 2005. The US government pledged to spend US $ 15 billion to fight the crisis. this disease.

In addition to financial commitments, research and treatment projects. Propaganda movement using condoms. This approach in the US has also been effectively implemented in Uganda, a country with a high rate, which has been reduced from 15% to 5%.

Challenges ahead

The first challenge must be the treatment of patients. According to a report by UNAIDS and WHO, there are only 20% of patients being treated. The remaining 80% of people are not treated. Moreover, the cost of treatment is too expensive, lack of hospital and medical staff.

The next challenge is to find an effective drug. This is one of the problems scientists are having. There are about 30 vaccines in the world currently in the testing period.

Financial challenges, in 2006, the world fund to fight AIDS is 8.9 billion USD. In fact, the United Nations estimates there is a shortage of 14.9 billion USD for this disease. This number continued to decline in 2007.

Nguyen Van Tu (General)