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Published online 1 December 2008 |
Nature
| doi:10.1038/news.2008.1267
Updated online: 1 December 2008
News
UNAIDS chief prepares to pass the torch
On World AIDS Day, Peter Piot assesses the evolution of the epidemic.
This World AIDS Day, on 1 December, will be Peter Piot's last at the Joint United Nations AIDS Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which he has led since its creation 13 years ago. Piot will leave the agency at the end of the year to start an institute for global health at Imperial College London.
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It would seem that this borders on the equivalent of a mass suicide syndrome. I have never read that there is any method of transmission other than direct physical contact, specifically during a sexual encounter. Other than prenatal transmission, no air born, food born, water born vectors of transmitting this virus have been revealed, to date. Humans can teach other humans when to and when not to cross a street; fundamentally realizing that crossing against the basic rules will eventually lead to being struck down by a motor vehicle. And there are dozens of other model examples of this ?when to / when not to? rule. Where are the medical preventive information agencies failing?
The need for home testing kits Although no cure has been discovered yet for the HIV/AIDS virus, antiretrovirals and a healthy lifestfyle, can prolong life indefinitely. This has however not been enough to stop the spread of the disease and more people are infected than die. What is clearly needed is easy to use HIV home testing kits as the core of a behavior modification regime of celibacy, monogamy and caution regarding blood contaminatino. People would use these tests to screen themselves, lovers and monitor the meat packing industry without disclosing their personal information to the financial interest. A positive result would get people to anti-retroviral distributing practitioners who could retest them in a controlled fashion, thereby reducing the transmission of the virus to health care workers. Practitioners would educate people with the virus in ethical behavior, celibacy, the dangers of blood, and healthy living, 5 servings of fruit and vegetables, exercise and hygience, and connect them with welfare services if they are unable to earn a substantial gainful income for a healthy diet. The core of the proposed behavioral modification regime to contain the epidemic in what scientists pray will be only a decade, should be sterile, easy to use, HIV home testing kits.