Treatment of the HIV/AIDS epidemic may take a sharp turn in coming years, as a Melbourne based research team has firmly stated that a cure is “within sight from the ping-pong table. Yeah. Over there. On the shelf. No. Do you see it? It’s labeled ‘HIV cure.’ In the vial.” The team, led by Dr. Patrick Ruffet, made startling progress late last year when they discovered an effective and complete cure to the notorious disease, but they note that this is only the first step in its the eradication. “We still have three more years of funding,” Ruffet said in a recent interview, “and there is still no clear champion in our Halo 4 tournament.”
So, how much longer will it take before we can see the cure changing the landscape of healthcare? A spokesman for Geitan Pharmaceuticals, the company behind the breakthrough, say the process could take years, as they “first need to take it off the shelf, and then put in a syringe, and then disinfect the arm, and then- uhhhhhhhg. Even saying this is a lot of work.”
This is good news for those currently afflicted with the disease, as they will only have to survive and be stigmatized until 2018. Some sufferers have spoken out against a lack of responsibility by Dr. Ruffet and Geitan Pharmaceuticals, calling for those involved to “get off their fat asses.” Dr. Ruffet responded earlier this week, saying “chill out. You still have ART? That’s not that bad, is it? The public needs to understand that we’re balancing a hundred different tasks right now. Saving millions of peoples’ lives is one of them, eating this whole bag of potato chips is another. In times like this, difficult decisions need to be made.”
While a 2018 public release date is expected, some are optimistic that it could be even later. An intern of Dr. Ruffet spoke to The Spudd, claiming that “we’ve still been getting monkeys shipped in every couple of weeks. A couple of the other guys and I have been trying to create a gladiator-style arena for them. If it works out, we may need a lot more monkeys.”
It has been 31 years since HIV was discovered, and the quest for a cure has become an obsession for many doctors and scientists. Keeping this alive in the face of there literally being a cure may seem to be a daunting challenge, but with the work of Ruffet and his team, it is looking more and more possible..
