{"id":116,"date":"2006-08-23T18:47:45","date_gmt":"2006-08-23T23:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/2006\/08\/23\/fight-against-aids-small-triumphs"},"modified":"2006-08-23T18:47:45","modified_gmt":"2006-08-23T23:47:45","slug":"fight-against-aids-small-triumphs-sunny-optimism-and-grim-reality-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/2006\/08\/23\/fight-against-aids-small-triumphs-sunny-optimism-and-grim-reality-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Fight Against AIDS: Small Triumphs, Sunny Optimism and Grim Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Commentary in the NYTimes August 15, “Fight Against AIDS: Small Triumphs, Sunny Optimism and Grim Reality”<\/a><\/p>\n

With our 10-year head start in
\ndisbursing AIDS drugs [in the United States], we have learned many times over that the drugs
\nare just the beginning. Once they are bought and dispensed, the work
\nonly gets harder. Side effects and failures are just part of it.
\nEventually, inevitably, you have to deal with … the health care system itself.<\/p>\n

AIDS drugs demand an
\ninfrastructure. It has taken this country almost 20 years to cobble the
\nfirst layer together: a network of people trained to administer drugs
\nand watch for problems. At its best now, in states like New York, it
\nfunctions like a smooth machine, delivering freely available
\nmedications, all the necessary tests and probably some of the best,
\nmost comprehensive AIDS care in the world.<\/p>\n

…Once
\nyou start taking care of people, there is no end. It takes a real
\nhealth care system to treat even a single illness…\n<\/p>\n

All
\nthey [ARVs] do is let people live long enough to need everything else — TB
\ndrugs and decongestants, insulin and hemorrhoid creams, cardiac
\ncatheterizations and hip replacements, mosquito netting, malaria<\/a> pills and polio<\/a>
\nvaccines. Idealists would point out that food and water, housing, jobs,
\nautonomy and civil rights should probably head that list. <\/p>\n

Can Mr. Gates’s billions really begin to pay for a new world? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commentary in the NYTimes August 15, “Fight Against AIDS: Small Triumphs, Sunny Optimism and Grim Reality” With our 10-year head start in disbursing AIDS drugs [in the United States], we have learned many times over that the drugs are just the beginning. Once they are bought and dispensed, the work only gets harder. Side effects […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":709,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-and-policy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/709"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/politicshiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}