No More HIV/AIDS?
I know, I know, it must seem like this is becoming the HIV blog. I guess I am just fascinated with things that pose a threat to all of humanity. But this is possibly even bigger news than the self-cleaning bathroom from yesterday.
Researchers believe they have found a new compound that could finally kill the HIV/AIDS virus. Its called CSA-54, a kind of Ceragenin. The studies they’ve done so far on this stuff show that it attacks HIV at the molecular membrane level, preventing the virus from hooking onto and destroying its primary target in humans, the white blood cells or T-cells. It looks like every strain of HIV is affected by CSA-54, and possibly other viruses like the flu or smallpox.
Well, its still pretty early in the process since the results haven’t been published yet. But clearly this could be a huge development for “us”.
Of course, if this really turns out to be a cure, we get into the wonderful morass of morality and ethics of how the drug would be distributed. The majority of the people that are infected with HIV/AIDS live in poverty or in third world countries. The people who develop the drug are obviously expecting to be well compensated for finding the solution to this problem everyone has been working on. So, what do you charge for it? Do you only charge the people who can afford it? Is it even fair to do such a thing?
I don’t think I have an equitable suggested solution to the problem, but I am curious to know if anyone else does.