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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Can AIDS Ever Be Cured?

    Thirty years ago this past Sunday, the first five cases of what became known as HIV/AIDS showed up in Los Angeles. It has now killed 30 million people worldwide. Thirty-three million have the disease -- one million in the US, and there's been progress. Drugs that once cost $12,000 a year now cost less than $200.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Thirty years ago this past Sunday, the first five cases of what became known as HIV/AIDS showed up in Los Angeles. It has now killed 30 million people worldwide. Thirty-three million have the disease -- one million in the US, and there's been progress. Drugs that once cost $12,000 a year now cost less than $200. Those same drugs that control HIV can prevent its transmission, but only if they're taken before symptoms begin to develop. Should patients be forced to take them? Should more research money go for a cure? What about a vaccine? Can medicine reach the poor who suffer the most?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Can AIDS Ever Be Cured?
    1. 0:00Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers to Leave
    2. 7:22Can AIDS Ever Be Cured?You’re reading this
    3. 40:43Can the US Learn from Germany's Economic Success?
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

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      Christian Bordal

      Managing Producer, Greater LA

    • KCRW placeholder

      Karen Radziner

      Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

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      Tina Rosenberg

      freelance journalist

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      David Baltimore

      California Institute of Technology

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      Eric Goosby

      US State Department

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Can AIDS Ever Be Cured?
    1. 0:00Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers to Leave
    2. 7:22Can AIDS Ever Be Cured?You’re reading this
    3. 40:43Can the US Learn from Germany's Economic Success?
    Back to To the Point