@PaulSaxMD @JasonUkman I coordinated an AIDS program and a home care agency in the late 80s. A friend contracted HIV at that time and is now a grandmother and doing well. Amid all the beloved patients we lost then there are all these stories of perseverance we must remember. Thanks.

@PaulSaxMD @JonGiftosMD I can’t even count the number of friends I have lost to AIDS since 1980. We’ve come a long way.

@PaulSaxMD This without any doubt. It´s a really big deal for her.

@PaulSaxMD Hands down the “miracle” of ART that has prevented PLWH from dying and stops HIV transmission is the most important advance.

@PaulSaxMD Exactly... you have to be unlucky enough to have a malignancy and in need of a BMT to probably (just probably) get cured if you survive; ART, on the other hand, is the most successful story in medicine, ever!

@PaulSaxMD Definitely this. More reproducible, significant survival benefit with great quality of life; and with U=U probably our best shot at defeating the epidemic from a public health perspective...

@PaulSaxMD @wjmuller Both!!!

@PaulSaxMD ART therapy is the gold standard but a cure is always the ideal goal. Having a high quality of life is awesome with ART, but getting off of meds and reducing frequent Dr. visits is a big burden off the patient, too. So both choices are winners for different reasons.

@PaulSaxMD @Rick_Pescatore The (?) is incorrect. (False comparison.) ART is proven treatment over a sustained period. Stem cell treatment is also a seminal discovery, but in its infancy. If STC *becomes* a demonstrable cure for a significant patient population, clearly it will be the greater advance.

@PaulSaxMD @Rick_Pescatore Yet, to be fair, it's a stimulating question...

@PaulSaxMD @colleenmfarrell When I was a resident many years ago (but not that many!), and we shared in the care of an HIV+ pt who had once had a similar CD4 count, you told me to take really good care of his other medical problems bc it wasn’t the HIV that we had to worry about anymore. Never forgot that.

@PaulSaxMD Go back earlier.

@PaulSaxMD 🙌🏼amazing! Now we need to ensure that this is how living with HIV is perceived. There’s still a lot of work to do in terms of destigmatization.