Source: nationofchange.org
Bernie Sanders became the first 2020 presidential candidate to come out in support of finding a global cure for AIDS. Scientists and researchers have been working toward a cure, but they insist that full support and additional resources from the government is necessary to find the solution. With his announcement, Sanders told the Research Foundation to Cure AIDS that “the U.S. can lead the world in finding the global cure for AIDS,” Block Toro reported.
Since Sanders’ announcement, almost every other presidential hopeful followed suit, supporting a cure for HIV/AIDS.
“We have all of the technology needed to end AIDS-related deaths and stop HIV transmission and develop a working cure for AIDS,” Sanders said. “All we need now is the political will to do it.”
In a series of questions asked by the Research Foundation to Cure AIDS (RFTCA), Sanders said that as president he would form a team of the top U.S. scientists, researchers and doctors to find a cure for HIV/AIDS, make sure every citizen had access to affordable treatment, work with the international community to help find a cure, as well as provide affordable medicine and hold Big Pharma accountable.
Sanders’ leadership and support of the cause won him praise by Kambiz Shekdar, Ph.D., RFTCA president.
“The cure for HIV/AIDS has been proven possible but the main struggle is to raise the funds needed to make it happen in real life,” Shekdar said. “We would need a presidential leadership like Bernie’s for developing the cure for all the patients in need.”
According to a transcript, Sanders “introduced curing AIDS as a new pillar” to his comprehensive AIDS address.
“Bernie believes that we can and we must end the AIDS epidemic in the United States and abroad, and we can lead the world by developing a cure for AIDS. Bernie will invest significant federal resources and convene experts, advocates, scientists, and researchers to ensure this goal is met. The United States has before come together to achieve things once thought impossible. What we need is a grassroots political movement that will stand up to the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and take the steps necessary to ensure we end the AIDS epidemic by 2025 and ensure no person in America dies because they cannot afford medication or health care. Bernie is proud to say he will, alongside a political movement, rise to this challenge.”