There are four public policy problems with the current reaction over the new drug therapies which need to be addressed. This is most true for our youth. While it is true that the overall rate of new infection is decreasing, it is actually increasing among some populations, most notably youth. Second, while the AIDS death rate has decreased overall, HIV continues to kill disproportionate numbers of women and people of color. Even for well educated upper middle class men, these regimens are difficult to follow.
Adherence is a major problem.
The biological consequences of not complying with these regimens may be catastrophic for individuals, limiting future medical choices. Already, some researchers are reporting significant failure rates for some of the new drugs. The quick fix is being applied to the allocation of public funding. This is where we are on a collision course with sound public health policy. Cries to defund the community-based systems of prevention and care and use the saved dollars to fund the new drugs is based on the myth that a cure has been found, and the epidemic is over.