Thirty years ago, Dr. James Curran, an epidemiologist, headed up a task force at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the first five reported cases of a disease that became known as AIDS.
Last week, Curran, co-director of Emory University’s Center for AIDS Research and dean of the Rollins School of Public Health, received a national award for his efforts to understand and stop the spread of the disease and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The honor, the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award, was named after a teenager with hemophilia who died in 1990 after contracting the disease through infectious blood products. We caught up with Curran, 66, to talk about his life’s work and his thoughts on the award.
Q: How far have we come in understanding AIDS?
A: The scientific progress in terms of understanding the disease and how it is transmitted and how it can be prevented has been remarkable.
Q: What about treatment?
A: The development of specific therapies that can allow people to live almost normal lives for many decades is also remarkable. But there are still huge challenges ahead. There is no cure. We still don’t have a safe and effective vaccine, although there has been some progress in that area.
Q: Ryan White got kicked out of school because people were so afraid of the disease. How would you assess the progress made in how we treat people with HIV and AIDS?
A: Because of the unnecessary fear of contagion, discrimination against homosexual men and drug users, the stigma was a major barrier to begin with in every country, including the United States. The stigma still exists and people often are still reluctant to get tested. We have come a long way.
Q: What about in other parts of the world?
A: The availability of testing and treatment in many countries in Africa has reduced the stigma. It is something you have to keep working at.
Q: Have Americans lost the sense of urgency in terms of prevention?
A: Americans have become complacent, perhaps with the better therapies that have become available. And the death rate has dropped. But there are still 10,000 to 12,000 Americans who die every year from the disease and between 50,000 and 75,000 who become infected, most often from sexual contact with persons who don’t know they are [infected].
Q: What about prevention?
A: It is extremely important. Prevention is both easier and a lot saner than becoming infected with a potentially fatal virus. Of course, transmitting the disease to others is a real tragedy. It is very important for people to get tested and avoid unprotected sexual contact with anyone when they don’t know the HIV status of their partner.
Q: What does this award mean to you?
A: It reminded me of the courage that Ryan White showed under adversity and the degree with which he served the country. Instead of blaming others, he learned to grow up and be treated just like any other teenager. Shortly after he died, the U.S. Congress passed the Ryan White Care Act, which provides HIV therapy for hundreds of thousands of Americans. It is the largest single medical services act for a disease ever.
Q: White got the disease through tainted blood. Is the blood supply safe today?
A: The blood supply is absolutely safe. Because of the awareness of AIDS, the blood supply is now tested for a variety of other infections that used to be commonplace.
Q: You said that you have been humbled by the disease. Why?
A: It is still the fourth leading cause of death in the world. Between 2 million and 3 million people die each year of the disease, and [the same number] become infected with HIV. There is still an awful long way to go.
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