In reference to a Dec. 29 article entitled ”AIDS blood test new target probe,” I take issue with the statement that the invention of the blood test for AIDS is ”one of the most significant medical advances of the century.”
In a century that has seen the most significant medical advances of all time, I hardly think that the development of the blood test for the AIDS virus ranks with the development of antibiotics to treat infections-remember, people used to die of ear infections and pneumonia in the 1920s. The development of insulin to treat diabetes also ranks highly in the achievements of the 20th Century, as does the development of vaccines for polio, open heart surgery and the eradication of smallpox.
The AIDS epidemic has challenged medical science and caused a full-scale mobilization of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration.
One of the most significant developments of this century would be development of a cure for AIDS.
