The HIV/AIDS Epidemic and Public Broadcasting

A major medical advance occurred in 1995, when the FDA approved a protease inhibitor for the first time. A protease inhibitor is an antiretroviral drug that slows HIV progression by blocking the replication of the virus.⁸⁹ Doctors began prescribing protease inhibitors in combination with other drugs, a treatment that was more successful in treating HIV/AIDS. This treatment, called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), consisted of treatment regimens made up of multiple drugs that often had to be taken at different times of day, with and without food. Treatments were aggressive and prescribed early, to stop the replication of HIV as soon as possible. As HAART became the new standard of HIV/AIDS treatment, concerns were raised about the financial burden new treatment regimens brought upon people with HIV and AIDS.

On an episode of North Carolina Now, Dr. Charles Van Der Horst, Clinical Director of the University of North Carolina AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, described progress made in HIV/AIDS treatment in 1995. He spoke specifically about the success of using antiretroviral 3CT in combination with AZT, which could decrease the amount of HIV in the blood of patients by more than 90%. Other drugs mentioned include D4T, an antiretroviral medication, Didanosine (DDI), and protease inhibitors.

Optimism about protease inhibitors and multi-drug treatments continued to grow. A 1996 episode of NewsNight Minnesota, in addition to exploring the HIV/AIDS epidemic and responses in Uganda, looked at the three FDA-approved protease inhibitors used in drug cocktails. The program was clear that the treatments did not cure HIV, but decreased the amount of virus in the body and in some cases were so successful that the virus became undetectable. The program included a panel discussion on topics like managing a complex treatment regimen, resistance to protease inhibitors, insurance coverage of FDA-approved drugs, HIV/AIDS prevention programs, and the financial cost of HIV/AIDS treatments.

Newsnight Maryland (Maryland Public Television, December 1, 1997).

A NewsNight Maryland report from World AIDS Day in 1997 examined the success of combined HIV/AIDS treatments. The program followed James Ball, who had experienced significant improvement in his health after being prescribed a drug cocktail of antiretrovirals, protease inhibitors, and an experimental drug. It also included footage from Johns Hopkins University research facilities and interviews with doctors and scientists working on HIV/AIDS treatment, followed by a panel discussion between Dr. David Vlahov, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins; AIDS researcher Dr. Robert Siliciano; and James Ball, who was living with AIDS and was a member of the Northern Virginia HIV Consortium.

While these treatments were promising, patients and scientists alike were concerned about the cost of HIV/AIDS drugs. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told correspondent Margaret Warner on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer that the cost for someone on a treatment regimen was about $20,000 a year. Dr. Fauci expressed hope that competition between pharmaceutical companies would lower prices. In that same segment, Newsday journalist Laurie Garrett noted that the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment in the U.S. was severe and that some countries with relatively higher rates of HIV/AIDS, like Zimbabwe, were even less equipped to pay for treatments.

In 1996, the number of new AIDS cases in the U.S. declined for the first time since the beginning of the epidemic. HAART was highly successful at inhibiting the replication of HIV in the body, sometimes to the point that HIV no longer could be detected. Today, HAART continues to be prescribed as a highly effective HIV/AIDS treatment. People without HIV can now use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which significantly reduces one’s chances of getting HIV.

Next: Public Broadcasting Covers the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Africa