The recent news of the first documented
Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) cure
by United States doctors excited the medical
world and also raised hope for finding the
cure to the dreaded global pandemic, the
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
(AIDS). According to reports, a baby girl in
Mississippi who was born with HIV has been
cured after early treatment with standard
drug therapy.

The infant in question underwent remission of
HIV infection after receiving anti-retroviral
therapy (ART) within 30 hours of birth. The
researchers are of the view that the prompt
administration of antiviral treatment possibly
led to the cure by halting the information of
hard-to-treat viral reservoirs’ dormant cells
responsible for reigniting the infection in most
HIV patients within weeks of stopping
therapy.

They also said that prompt antiviral therapy in
newborns that begins within days of exposure
might help infants clear the virus and achieve
long-term remission without life-long
treatment by preventing such viral hide-outs
from forming in the first place. They
expressed the view that this was precisely
what happened in this case. Consequently,
they declared that, that infant (the baby girl)
is now deemed “functionally cured,” a
condition that occurs when a patient achieves
and maintains long-term viral remission
without life-long treatment and standard
clinical tests fail to detect HIV replication in
the blood.

However, the researchers said that more
testing should be done to see if the treatment
would have the same effect with other
children. Also, HIV co-discoverer and Nobel
Prize winner, Prof. Francoise Barre-Sinoussi,
has said that a cure for AIDS now “might be
possible.” We recall that this is not the first
time there has been an HIV cure claim.
Besides the current claim, another
documented HIV cure claim is that of Timothy
Brown.

It was reported that in 2006, while on
treatment for HIV, Brown was diagnosed with
leukemia. His physician reportedly was able to
treat his leukemia with a stem-cell transplant
from a person who was born with a genetic
mutation causing immunity to HIV infection.
As a result of the transplant, Brown was able
to stop HIV treatment without experiencing a
return of his HIV disease.
There have also been other unverified HIV/
AIDS cure claims, especially in Africa. Despite
the optimism of finding cure for AIDS, medical
experts stressed that much remained
unclear-including whether this may have
been a freak result. While we note the
misgivings and doubts being expressed, we
applaud the US researchers for their effort in
finding a cure for HIV. It is expected that
news of an HIV cure will naturally be dogged
by doubts and controversies.

From inception till date, AIDS is a disease that
is fuelled and kept alive by controversies. Past
AIDS cure claims had been riddled with many
controversies even among the so-called AIDS
experts. Over the years, no disease has been
surrounded by much myth and superstition
as AIDS. More often, the politics of AIDS itself
is seemingly driven and sustained by a lack of
cure for the pandemic. However, the current
discovery is good news to mankind and we
welcome it.

Rather than criticize the effort, the American
researchers should be encouraged to explore
more towards finding a cure for the disease.
Theirs, like some others before it, offer a
glimmer of hope on getting a cure for the
condition. Let the relevant medical authorities
in the USA subject the research to all the
necessary tests and verifications. We say this
considering the fact that such a study should
benefit immensely from peer review and input
of other researchers working on the disease.
Other researchers on the condition should
also intensify effort in finding cure to the
world’s most deadly pandemic that has
claimed lots of lives since inception in the
1980s. Researchers in Africa should not be
discouraged by condemnations and criticisms
that always trail their AIDS cure claims. They
should continue in their stride bearing in
mind that the cure for AIDS can emanate
from any part of the world.
Those working on finding the cure through
herbs should also be encouraged. Herbal
medicinal efficacy on the condition cannot be
ruled out.