Are the drugs out of patent already? If not, is there a prospect for generics being much cheaper in the future?
Also, in some African nations, being convicted of homosexuality can lead to the death penalty, if conservative lawmakers pass such legislation. That could be why AIDS is such harsher there.
AZT (Retrovir), the first effective anti-retroviral, has been for quite some time. It was actually patented in 1970 as a cancer drug, but didn’t work all that well for that purpose. It was shelved, and when AIDS came along and people were throwing anything and everything at it, hoping it would stick, AZT did.
It also turned out that the horrendous side effects many of the early users of this drug experienced were because they were taking a dose several times higher than what was really necessary.
DDI (Videx) and DDC (Hivid) have actually been taken off the American market because their use fell off drastically to essentially nothing. I only saw DDC once, and that was when I was in college in the early 1990s; it was notorious for causing pancreatitis.
I haven’t practiced in a place with a sizable AIDS population for quite some time, but I’m pretty sure that d4T, Norvir, and Crixivan are available generically too.
The whole “AIDS can be cured by having sex with a virgin” did not originate in Africa, or with AIDS. It was once believed by some people in the United States that syphilis could be cured the same way. :eek:
In addition, in many areas women are not allowed to refuse their husbands sexually, for any reason, and demanding that he use a condom can get her beaten up, or worse.
Very true.
Sorry, but I can’t make sense of your post. Can you restate?
Maybe what medstar**** means is people with AIDs in a country where homosexuality is criminalized fear seeking treatment because it means they’ll be outed as a homosexual and punished, rather than receive treatment.
Yes, this is why smallpox, polio, and diphtheria are all still seen in this country as big killers only barely kept in check by palliative care at thousands of dollars per month per patient.
Oh. Wait.
Here’s some actual information about where cures come from and, guess what, the Big Pharma you’re ranting about is actually out in the lead. Now stop spreading ignorance and start fighting it.
It appears to have become a widespread belief in Victorian England. In Michael Crichton’s novel The Great Train Robbery belief in its efficacy actually forms a small part of the plot. That part of the plot ( involving a 12-year old prostitute ) was understandable considerably sanitized for the film.
I’m not too sure of his long history, as I lost contact with him for many years. He’s told me that his level of virus is undetectably low, but only because of the massive cocktail of meds he takes daily. I do know, since even before AIDS was known, that he habitually engaged in numerous deplorably un-safe practices, including extensive illegal drug dabbling. Really strange for an otherwise highly intelligent college-educated guy.
That was my reading. But as I understand it, being gay is irrelevant to AIDS in Africa, since it’s commonly spread by hetero sex there.
And everywhere else, for that matter.
With respect, you’re wrong. A big part of the panic was just not knowing what the hell was causing it. Until the virus was isolated all people knew was that people were dying horribly from some unknown cause. Nowadays, if the incidence spreads we will know what’s going on and correct.
Yeah, that’s what I meant. Any homosexual in those particular countries would be in the closet and not be able to obtain drugs to contain the condition. Sorry for the confusion.
“Take two virgins and call me in the morning”.
In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV is primarily spread through heterosexual activity.
Diphtheria can be treated with antibiotics if someone gets it, and smallpox and polio weren’t cured, but eradicated (well, almost so for polio).
Woosh.
I was in my mid-30s and living in NYC “in the thick of it.” And I was very active in trying to get the general public and the medical establishment off their asses . . . and was an early member of ACT-UP. By the time I relocated in 1995, there were young radical gay guys who deliberately got themselves infected. It was considered some kind of edgy political thing. I hope that was just a passing insanity, and no longer the case . . . but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still going on. Yes, “maddening” sums it up.
Panache, as a fairly well connected 27 year old gay male in a rather large city, I am happy to report that I haven’t heard of any first person experiences of people voluntarily hoping to contract HIV.
I have heard of “bug parties” though but always wondered if they were just urban legends. But I don’t even have a 2nd or 3rd hand anecdote of anyone doing one of these parties, being invited to one, or even having heard of one… so at least there is that.
I did know of a “Friend of a Friend” who got raped by someone who was HIV+ with the express purpose of passing on HIV, though :(. If my friend is to be believed (and I don’t have any special reason to doubt him), the friend did get HIV and refused to take anything for it and developed AIDS rather quickly and died from it years ago. He didn’t want to live his life fighting it, evidently 