Two weeks ago, the president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Professor David Baltimore, announced that scientists are no closer to a cure for HIV than they were 20 years ago. This lack of progress has disheartened many scientists. “I believe that HIV has found ways to totally fool the immune system,” Baltimore said at AAAS’s annual meeting according to BBC News. “Our lack of success may be understandable, but it is not acceptable.”

Many have attributed the lack of advancement in finding a vaccine for HIV to the fact that HIV has adapted so that it can protect itself from the human immune system.

“(The lack of advancement) has to do with the nature of the virus having the ability to quickly morph and change its protein structures and essentially hide from itself,” said Nicole McFarlane, professor of English, who teaches a Historical Perspective class titled Understanding HIV/AIDS (1900-1996).

This lack of a vaccine for HIV/AIDS has not taken away from the progress in the ways people deal with the disease.

“Many have come to terms with it,” said Addison Ore, the Executive Director of Triad Health Project, which provides help to those who are HIV positive. “People, who adhere to their medicines, see progress.”

“I think there’s also a lot to be excited about in terms of treatment,” McFarlane said. “Of course, if the cost of treatment remains high, this doesn’t bode well for the poor and working class.”

The price of treatment is a main concern for those afflicted with the virus.

“The medicine available today works extremely effectively; the problem is that millions of people do not have access to it,” said senior David Norton, a sociology, gender studies, and political science major. Norton is also an AIDS Fellow on campus.

One of the leading funders of AIDS research, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sees hope in the treatment despite the lack of a vaccine.

“The recent set backs toward creating an AIDS vaccine have been disappointing,” said a spokeswoman for the foundation. “However, the research into this critical work continues and we believe it will result in the vaccine needed to end a disease that kills two million people every year. In addition, there is a great deal of work being done to improve and deliver better AIDS prevention.