1. I have a hard time forming an opinion about HIV/AIDS treatment in the west as a whole, as there are many players in the game and pieces of the puzzle to evaluate. Perhaps the most negative aspect of the treatment is that it relies heavily on the pharmaceutical companies who make antiretroviral drugs. Just the idea of private interest capitalizing on medical needs seems absurd and horrible, and there have been many instances in the global fight against HIV/AIDS where treatment was denied because of the prohibitive cost of antiretroviral drugs and intellectual rights to the medication. On the other hand, though HIV/AIDS is certainly preventable, it is not a condition in which preventative or holistic medicine could be a better option than western treatment, as is true for many other chronic conditions. Thus, coming from the TCM perspective, I have a hard time judging the western approach to a disease for which TCM is perhaps even less effective. Of course, the harshness of western treatment is horrible, and I hope that, as time goes on, there will be more options for HIV/AIDS positive people that have less detrimental side effects.
2. I'm not sure of our reliance on the possibility of a cure for HIV/AIDS. I think that, of course, the hope is for the development of a safe and effective form of treatment, but that in lieu of this, there has been a huge effort to work on preventing its spread. But, I think the debate around Truvada brings up the fact that, although safe sex and clean needle awareness has been a popular and fairly successful cause, the fact remains that sexual politics and issues of "morality" are shaping the conversation around HIV/AIDS treatment in ways that may not serve. It makes me wonder if whether a cure for HIV/AIDS would be stigmatized in much the same way as Truvada is - that it would be an enabling agent for the young and careless to continue have unsafe, promiscuous sex, much as abortions or birth control can be.
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