Recent news
November 2011
GHTC Director highlights progress in developing new interventions for HIV/AIDS
November 21, 2011 -- GHTC director Kaitlin Christenson recently wrote a post for the ONE blog about four game-changing HIV/AIDS treatments and the leadership from the US government that has helped foster these critical research breakthroughs.
Christenson credits the past three years as an instrumental time in the fight against AIDS, rich with historic progress that is helping to prevent, diagnose, and treat HIV and AIDS. There are four specific research breakthroughs that she highlights in her post as the game-changers, which are bringing the global community closer to the finish line. These include: researchers proving that an HIV vaccine could prevent infection; a clinical trial showing that microbicides, an HIV prevention gel, could help women by preventing infection; studies that demonstrate a daily dose of oral antiretroviral could reduce the risk of infection among high-risk individuals; and research that showed treatment as prevention could work to reduce the risk of HIV-positive individuals transmitting the infection to their partners.
To show the potential of these interventions, Christenson discusses a recent GHTC trip to Kenya where she had the opportunity to see the huge impact that similar research efforts will have on communities dealing with HIV and AIDS. When meeting with the researchers committed to these studies, Christenson said “the excitement they felt about the promise these new tools might provide was palpable.”
While recent progress is bringing the world closer to ending the pandemic, Christenson call for sustained support for HIV/AIDS research.
“Today, it is in our hands to decide the fate of future generations. The fight against HIV/AIDS is not over, and a concerted effort must be made to prioritize research to develop new tools—both those that are within arm’s reach, and those which still require much more study. Research is a long-term investment, and we must not give up on the commitments which have taken us this far.”
