In March 2013, HIV advocates cheered when they heard the news that a baby girl in Mississippi appeared to be cured of HIV. Without any detectible virus in her blood, it seemed like the medical community had taken another giant step toward finding a cure for the 30-year-old epidemic.
But last week, some sobering news was released: Doctors announced July 10 that they found HIV in the Mississippi baby's blood. Now, she is HIV-positive and faces a lifetime of HIV medications, medical care and the daily struggles that the more than 1.2 million people in the United States who live with HIV face every day.
Last week's news shows that a widely available cure for HIV is years away. But while we wait for the medical community to develop a proven and effective cure, we have to make better use of the groundbreaking technology that we already have in our hands today: modern antiretroviral medications.
They're here, they're fierce, and they work: Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can reduce a person's risk of becoming infected with HIV by upwards of 90 percent through a daily dose of HIV medications. Post-exposure prophylaxis works well to prevent HIV infection if taken within 72 hours of potential exposure. People with HIV who are successfully treated (making their viral load undetectable) have a 96 percent lower risk of transmitting HIV to their partners and can live nearly normal life spans if treated early and continually.
But despite these remarkable rates of success, HIV medications are still not getting into in the hands of everyone who needs them.
In fact, nearly half of people living with HIV are not taking antiretroviral medicationsoften because they don't know they are infected or have dropped out of medical care. Groups most impacted by HIVgay men and men who have sex with men of all races and ages, African Americans and Latinos/Latinas, and people who inject drugsaren't using preventive regimens like PrEP and PeP.
It's clear that the federal government and private sector need to step up investment in HIV cure research. But while we wait, there are two actions we should all take.
First, learn about PEP and PrEP. Take it if you're at risk for contracting HIV, cheer on your friends who are taking them and spread the word. One great resource is MyPrEPExperience.blogspot.com .
Second, get tested regularly for HIV. AFC recommends that sexually active gay men be tested every three months. That way, if they test positive, they can get the health benefits of early treatment and protect their partners from infection. Find a free testing site at hivtest.cdc.gov .
The Mississippi baby shows that pregnant women with HIV need access to programs like the Pediatric AIDS Chicago Prevention Initiative, which helps vulnerable moms deliver healthy, HIV-negative babies. If the Mississippi baby's mother had access to such a program, her daughter may have been born into this world HIV-free.
Today, there's another toddler in Mississippi living with HIV. I can see her nowlaughing on a warm summer afternoon. She's HIV-positive, yes, but with support from her family and her community, she can be so many more things than a statistic.
John Peller is the interim president & CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.