Who Gets What? How Money and Status Dictate the Flow of Resources During Pandemics
Shortly after the AIDS crisis exploded in the U.S. in the 1980’s, experts were hard at work to develop a cure. The treatments that were created were effective, but more than that they were expensive, in the mid-nineties going for “$10,000 to $15,000 a year and needed to be taken for life,” (McMillen 113). Most Americans would be unable to foot that bill year over year, let alone a grand majority of the African population, where HIV/AIDS proves more prevalent. Eventually, the costs of drugs and treatments would be brought down to appropriate levels, and generic alternatives would arise, but not without widespread protest and activism. Even still, these generic brands would continue to be too expensive for poorer nations:
