We have accepted that there currently exists no cure to HIV/AIDS, simply antiretroviral drugs that can dramatically slow its effects. Along with these drugs, education, and lots of preventative measures against it, the proportion of the population living with HIV/AIDS should be minute. As residents of a developed nation where we can find doctors’ offices and hospitals on every other corner, we never think about what would happen if there was no healthcare facility nearby and we had no car to drive to the nearest one, or even a computer to look up its location. This is the major issue plaguing the fight against HIV/AIDS, and in rural areas where few resources are available, we are no closer to solving it.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), launched in 2003, was founded for the purpose of reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in 15 focus countries in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America. Continue reading How far should they walk?