HIV and AIDS

q&a

Medical Mistrust Could Reduce Vaccine Uptake: Q&A with Laura Bogart

Laura Bogart, a senior behavioral scientist, studies how discrimination feeds medical mistrust and conspiracy beliefs. Her research on how mistrust became a barrier to treatment for Black Americans during the HIV epidemic sheds light on why some might question the safety of a COVID-19 vaccine.

blog

RAND's Response to a Past Pandemic: HIV/AIDS

In the 1980s, HIV/AIDS killed 90 percent of those infected. RAND was at the forefront of the research response, providing key data on costs of care, barriers to access, and the disease's effects on quality of life. RAND continues to pursue ways to ease HIV's impact in the United States and Africa.

essay

Faith-Based Organizations Promote Well-Being in Underserved Communities

Kathryn Derose, a senior policy researcher at RAND and an Episcopal deacon, works with Latino and African-American churches to address health issues in their communities. Her research has shown the power of the pulpit to fight health disparities, counter stigma, and encourage healthy living.

commentary

Public Health Reasons to Tune Into TV's 'Dear White People'

The Netflix series Dear White People shows how sexual decisionmaking can be influenced by race, status, and the power dynamics within a relationship. Public health programs and policies could be better tailored to account for this complexity.

Sarah MacCarthy

commentary

The Royal Wedding's Bouquet to Public Health

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle asked the public to donate to charities instead of sending wedding gifts. The causes they are passionate about include helping children with HIV, homelessness, hygiene programs for women in the slums of Mumbai, and bringing sport to disadvantaged youth.

Sarah MacCarthy

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Improving HIV and Mental Health Care in Uganda

A small team of RAND researchers has spent years working with local clinics in Uganda to help people not just survive HIV, but learn to live with it, and even thrive.

commentary

In a 'Post-Truth' World, Evidence and Experts Matter More Than Ever

In 2016, a so-called "post-truth" world emerged, where objective truths seem to carry less weight than opinions that appeal to personal beliefs. But experts and truth still matter.

Molly Morgan Jones

commentary

PrEP for HIV Prevention in the UK Still Faces Many Challenges

PrEP is an HIV-prevention strategy that provides people at risk of HIV with oral antiretroviral drugs that are taken prior to potential exposure. It could be a game changer, but issues associated with its implementation, costs, and access need to be addressed.

Gavin Cochrane

commentary

Revisiting Restrictions on Blood Donations from Gay and Bisexual Men

The FDA does not accept blood from male donors who have had sex with a man in the last 12 months. Is this restriction supported by scientific evidence? Or, is it related to lingering stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS?

Sarah MacCarthy

commentary

Charlie Sheen and the Enduring Stigma Attached to HIV

HIV-related stigma and discrimination remains pervasive despite strides that have been made in fighting the disease. Charlie Sheen reported paying more than $10 million in bribes to keep his HIV status secret before going public recently to put an end to the extortion.

Sarah MacCarthy

commentary

Africa Succeeds in Meeting Many Long-Term U.N. Development Goals

Over the past decade and half, Africa has made great strides toward meeting the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, eight objectives that included halving extreme poverty rates, providing universal primary education, and ending the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Mahlet Atakilt Woldetsadik

commentary

New Partnerships for Improving Global Health Research

Partnerships between public and private organizations have become a powerful mechanism for addressing longer-term and structural challenges faced by developing countries that have a high burden of poverty-related diseases.

Gavin Cochrane

blog

How Can We Negotiate for Lower Prices in Antiretroviral Treatments?

Antiretroviral (ARV) treatment has transformed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic condition, allowing people to live longer and healthier lives. However, people living with HIV face significant barriers to accessing and affording ARV medications.

commentary

Gulf States Among Top in New HIV, AIDS Cases

Improving HIV prevention and medical care delivery to persons living with HIV/AIDS should be a collaborative effort, particularly in the Gulf States region, where resources are limited but the epidemic is expanding, writes Vivian Towe.

Vivian L. Towe

commentary

Atlantic Monthly and RAND View the Future

The Atlantic Monthly Magazine features a compilation of ten short essays written by experts at RAND, collectively titled Headlines Over the Horizon. The RAND authors examined developments in international and military affairs drawing little attention today that are expected to be major issues in the next three to five years.

James A. Thomson @thomson0145

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Atlantic Monthly and RAND View the Future

The July/August 2003 issue of The Atlantic Monthly Magazine features Headlines Over the Horizon, a compilation of ten essays by RAND experts. The RAND authors examined developments in international and military affairs drawing little attention today that are expected to be major issues in the next three to five years.

James A. Thomson @thomson0145

commentary

AIDS Can Threaten National Stability

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Peter Chalk