The first HIV-1 infection was found in 1959, taken from a preserved blood sample from a man from central Congo. However, at the Pasteur Institute of France, researchers identified and isolated the virus in 1983 by Luc Montagnier. Since then, there has been so much research done by many institutions from different countries about this pandemic.
Among the many nations that have taken an effort to research this deadly disease is Germany… So many research institutes in Germany are dedicated to finding more about the virus that causes AIDS. Among such institutes include the German Centre for Infection research.
It cannot go without mentioning the role of The United States of America in HIV research. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under The National Institute of Health (NIH), has been involved in the discovery and development process of the antiretroviral drug. NIAID is still playing an active role in upgrading the drugs and introducing alternative therapies. The first treatment for the virus Zidovudine, was introduced for treating cancer by Jerome Horwitz in 1964. Zidovudine, was proved ineffective for cancer, but showed great results in curbing HIV. The drug, mostly referred to as AZT, decreased death rate and opportunistic infection that impact those with AIDS.
Though not a government organization, UNAIDS headquarter is located in Geneva, Switzerland. This also makes Switzerland a country with one of the best HIV treatments globally among other nations such as Germany and The United Kingdom. These nations as along with The United States and Brazil played a vital role in founding the World Health Organization (WHO).
The 90-90-90 targets set by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS were first adopted by Vietnam among all Asian countries. In the mid-1990 the USAID first supported HIV and AIDS programs in Vietnam. This boosted the research on HIV in this nation. It hence helped Vietnam become among the top four countries in the world with the best HIV treatment. Vietnam has since reduced its rate of HIV infection in-country by 0.3 per cent over the past ten to eleven years.
India is also among those countries that have done a lot of research on the virus. The virus was first discovered in Chennai among female sex workers in 1986. The first research was pioneered by Dr. Suniti Solomon and Dr. Sellappan Nirmala.
Many other countries have put in note-worthy effort in the study of this virus. South Africa and Egypt are two such nations in Africa.
