Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the US, there was some good news last week from this year’s AIDS conference. Due to COVID-19, the conference had to be held remotely. One policy goal is known as the 90:90:90, which means to identify 90% of HIV cases, treat 90% of those identified and supress viral…
In 2011, the worldwide prevalence of HIV and AIDS was 34 million. In that same year, 1.7 million people died of HIV or AIDS. However, the growth in HIV may be slowing. Al Jazeera reports: Globally, new HIV infections are down by 33 percent since 2001 and have been more than halved among children. But…
Last weekend, I watched the movie How to Survive a Plague. The movie discusses the AIDS activist group ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). Although I am not a movie critic (you can see reviews by professional critics here), I do want to discuss one key issue that the move discusses: should the FDA liberalize its…
A survey by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation revealed the following regarding Americans opinions on HIV and AIDS: 45 percent say they would be “very comfortable” in having their child having an HIV+ teacher, up from 36 percent in 2011. 79 percent say that everyone with HIV in the U.S. should get treatment…
Almost one in five South Africans have HIV. South Africa is the country with the most individuals living with HIV (5.6 million); it also has the most HIV deaths annually (310,000). Despite these grim facts, there is some good news. The Economist reports: “Although the number of South Africans living with the disease continues to…
The Center for Disease Control issued the first official notice of the disease that would become known as AIDS 30 years ago on June 5. My current home, San Francisco, was especially hard hit. NPR interviews physicians at the San Francisco General Hospital and the Center of AIDS Research at University of California, San Francisco. “At…
Today is World’s AIDS Day. Typically this is a day for bad news, but there are some positive trends in the AIDS epidemic. Time notes that “The number of new infections is falling, as are AIDS-related deaths. Overall, 33 countries have seen their infection rate drop by more than 25% between 2001 and 2009, thanks,…
Case and Paxson (2009): “We document the impact of the AIDS crisis on non-AIDS related health services in fourteen sub-Saharan African countries…Regions of countries that have light AIDS burdens have witnessed small or no declines in health care, using the measures noted above, while those regions currently shouldering the heaviest burdens have seen the largest…
HIV is a huge health issue around the world and especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Many American NGOs have promoted abstinence programs as a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, most evidence finds that this approach has been ineffective. An NBER working paper by Dupas (2009) adds more support that abstinence programs do not…
There are now 33 million people living with HIV, including 2 million children. About 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus each year. Combating this epidemic is one of the top priorities facing public health workers around the world. With limited resources, what strategy should be pursued? As of now, a vaccine…