Global Health Institute

From pandemic outbreaks to dual-use research gone wrong, modern society constantly faces novel biosecurity threats. Whether these risks are natural, accidental, or intentional, Dr. Elizabeth Cameron, Vice-President of Global Biological Policy and Programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and former staff-member on the White House National Security Council, works to minimize their potential for harm. Sitting with our class in a Berkeley Center conference room, Dr. Cameron shared her thoughts on the future of biosecurity and global preparedness.

Since June 1981, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Today, over 1.1 million people live with HIV throughout the United States. Studies have indicated that the epidemic has differentially impacted individuals living in urban and rural areas. According to CDC surveillance of HIV in urban and nonurban areas through 2016, of adults and adolescents diagnosed with HIV, there is a substantially larger percentage who have progressed to AIDS. Between 1985 and 2015, HIV-positive individuals who have progressed to AIDS in larger urban areas have progressively decreased while those of smaller cities (populations of 50,000 to 499,000) and metropolitan areas have increased. A secondary analysis of 2005 and 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data found that individuals living in rural areas are less likely than their urban counterparts to report prior HIV testing, which may contribute to later HIV diagnosis in rural areas. Limited HIV testing is simply a symptom of a larger problem: disparities in healthcare access. 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas, yet only 9 percent of physicians practice there. A strong health infrastructure that provides essential prevention and care, therefore, is integral to reducing the impact of HIV/AIDS.