RadioScope: Aids: Quest for a Cure, BBC Radio 4, November 16th
Twenty-five years ago, when HIV/Aids hit the headlines, life expectancy for victims was limited and the casual risks of contracting the virus were exaggerated out of all proportion.
Although the disease has assumed epidemic proportion in the developing world, the advent of new medications has meant that, for many, the condition has become a chronic but manageable disease. However, the prohibitive cost of the highly active antiretroviral therapy required to manage the disease has, to a great extent, limited availability of this treatment to sufferers in the western world.
Aids: Quest for a cure is part of a series produced by BBC Radio 4 which is looking at the HIV virus. This particular episode was presented by Peter Day who has followed the pharmaceutical industry's attempts to develop a treatment. For the past six years he has focused on one particular company, Pfizer, as it tries to develop a treatment to block the virus from entering cells.
Although clinical trials have been ongoing at the company for the past 19 years it is only now that a drug has reached the stage where it can be tested in humans. According to the programme, Pfizer employs some 20,000 researchers in its race to develop a cure for Aids. With a budget exceeding $100 million, hopes are high that an answer can be found to this modern plague.
But although the programme was informative and presented with obvious enthusiasm by Day, it lacked real substance. This drug trial may be the first step on the long road to a possible cure but, from a listener's perspective, it is, to some extent, still aspirational. During the half-hour programme a "patient" taking part in the current Pfizer trial was interviewed.
Although he reported improvements as a result of taking part in the double blind trial, neither the patient nor his treating doctors know if he is taking the real drug or a placebo. This detracted from the impact of his testament and, indeed, that of the programme as a whole.
For those with a particular interest in HIV/Aids, the Pfizer development is an exciting breakthrough. But for the general listener the programme fell flat and was about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Review by Marion Kerr, occupational therapist