Filed under: Politics, Health Care Debate
The U.S. government recently stated that its scientists have found three new antibodies to fight the disease, one of which can neutralize 91 percent of HIV strains. That's more than any antibody has produced thus far. The antibodies don't cure HIV, but they can be used in powerful new vaccines.
The HIV antibodies which led to the developments were found in the cells of a 60-year old black man. Scientists have not released his name, and only refer to him as "Donor 45." His body made the antibodies naturally, and scientists are using his results to create a vaccine that will produce the antibodies in anyone who takes it.
Gary Nabel, the director of the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is the person leading the research. He says that it's going to to take work to get where scientists believe they are going. The results of the latest research have been published in the online journal Science. According to estimates, there were 33 million people living with HIV at the end of 2008, with roughly 2.7 million people being infected every year.
Before the days of Donor 45, most efforts to produce an HIV vaccine were relatively weak. A trial in Thailand seemed to reduce the chances of infection by about 30%, but the results were statistically questionable. The new work has been defined as a "renaissance" by scientists.
For black people in the United States, the rate of HIV infection is reaching epidemic proportions. Half of all Americans infected with HIV are African Americans. Washington DC is among the worst cities in the US, where 6.5 percent of all African American men are infected with the disease. The Center for Disease Control also estimates that 39 percent of black men and 48 percent of black women are infected with genital herpes, so the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases is quite rampant.
The best recommendation in all this: Get tested and make sure your partner is getting tested. The days of simply believing that someone is clean because of how they look are over (not that there ever really was such a time, but everything is relative). Nowadays, the most attractive people can be the ones most likely to have been places and done things that you don't know much about. You have to ask questions, take your time before becoming sexually active, see test results and keep yourself protected. Sharing your body should not be taken lightly, for it can ultimately cost you your life.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.