AIDS Drugs Must be Made Available ‘At a Price the World Can Afford,’ Star-Ledger Editorial Says

Although the information and technology exist to prevent the spread of HIV and to provide drugs to those who already have the disease, "a world committed to wiping ... out" the disease is still needed, a Newark Star-Ledger editorial says. "The contrast between those who can secure treatment ... and the millions of poor victims is horrifying," the editorial states, adding that drug companies need "to find a way to accomodate the world's needs at a price the world can afford." As more people who have access to the best treatments "stay well" and look healthy, "fear" of the deadly virus may be lessened, the editorial says, but for many of those infected with the virus the "basics of treatment" have yet to become available. "[I]gnorance about the disease propels the epidemic and handcuffs this truth: People who take the right drugs can control the virus and live," the editorial says, concluding, "There are groups that have worked out rational models for distributing drugs, condoms and information in the most distressed of places. That work is essential. This is becoming a matter of survival" (Newark Star-Ledger, 1/2).