{"id":27540,"date":"2018-11-30T16:02:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T16:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=27540"},"modified":"2018-11-30T16:02:49","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T16:02:49","slug":"the-plague-of-the-21st-century-looking-back-at-the-fight-against-aids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/the-plague-of-the-21st-century-looking-back-at-the-fight-against-aids\/","title":{"rendered":"The plague of the 21st Century: Looking back at the fight against AIDS"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It’s been 30 years since the first World’s<\/b> AIDS Day. Since then,\u00a0there have been medical advancements and education available about AIDS and HIV that have changed its perception.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before,<\/span>\u00a0HIV was to receive a death sentence.<\/span>The medical world was mystified by a mysterious illness killing mostly gay men. Rock Hudson, Freddie Mercury, and rapper Eazy-E (who was straight) are just a few of the famous people that lost their battle to the deadly virus. <\/span><\/p>\n

In honour of World AIDS Day, we will compare the progression of AIDS between now and back in the 1980s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Medical Advancement<\/b><\/h4>\n
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Data from Public Health England<\/p><\/div>\n

Today, there are an abundance of treatments available to manage and prevent the virus. The treatment used are antiretrovirals (ARV) on a daily basis. These had been researched since 1983 but were introduced in 1996. <\/span><\/p>\n

ARV does not kill the virus but stops it from continuing replicating in the body. The viral load is undetectable in people who take AVR regularly. This is referred to as a \u201cU=U\u201d affect. <\/span><\/p>\n

20 million people now have access to ARV and AIDS related deaths have decreased by 51 per cent<\/span>. These drugs are covered under the NHS. Public Health England reported 96% of people with HIV have access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

HIV activists are campaigning for more public research for new drugs as pharmaceutical companies are monopolising this sector. This allows the companies to charge high prices that the NHS cannot cover hence 15 <\/span>million<\/span>\u00a0people do not have access to the medicines they need.<\/span><\/p>\n

Awareness<\/b><\/h4>\n

There were a number of public awareness campaigns in the UK in the early days of the HIV epidemic. The campaigns were to caution people about how HIV is passed on and advising the general public to practice safe sex. Terry Madeley did an<\/span> interviews in 1987, making him the first in the UK to speak openly about his fight with AIDS. <\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, there are few public HIV awareness campaigns. <\/span>Mike <\/span>Podmore<\/span>, Director of STOPAIDS, believes this is due to the belief of AIDS no longer an issue because of the advancement.\u00a0<\/span>Podmore told Voice of London: \u201dThere was a strong perception that maybe we can take are foot off the peddle a little bit and focus on other issue. There were many other competing issues such as climate change.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This lack of awareness creates a lack of HIV knowledge in the UK. <\/span>A 2014 National AIDS Trust found that only 45% of people could correctly identify all of the ways HIV is transmitted. The report found an increasing proportion of people believe in incorrect routes of transmission, like kissing. They also found there has also been less funding for HIV prevention in the UK and globally.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It can be easy to confuse HIV and AIDS. They are different diagnoses, but they do go hand-in-hand: HIV is a virus that can lead to a condition called AIDS. #WorldAIDSDay2018<\/a> #WAD30<\/a> #RPSAaware<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/U48ST39lXg<\/a><\/p>\n

— RPSA\/AEPHAR (@RPSARwanda) November 29, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n