Hepatitis B, like AIDS, is a legally recognized infectious disease in China, and both are classified as Category B infectious diseases. Although both are Class B infectious diseases, hepatitis B is an ancient disease with a long history of prevalence, with records of the disease dating back to BC. However, due to medical technology, it wasn't until 1970 that complete hepatitis B virus particles were actually observed, in 1971 the virus was isolated and showed the surface and core of the virus, and in 1972 it was recognized that hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) is part of the core of the virus and is associated with the infectious nature of the virus. And the earliest discovery of AIDS patients was June 5, 1981, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a case report of five AIDS patients, which is the world's first recorded appearance of AIDS, and there is no relevant similar cases in history, so AIDS is a completely new infectious disease. The first case of AIDS in China was only discovered in 1985, by an expatriate traveling to China. Although the transmission pathways of Hepatitis B and AIDS are basically the same, in just 40 years, from the discovery of AIDS in human beings, there are now 42 million infected people, of which South Africa is the hardest hit, roughly 10% of the total population is infected, and we in China have roughly 1.25 million infected people. It has been reported that there are only two AIDS patients in the world who have been confirmed cured, namely, the "Berlin Patient" and the "London Patient", both of whom had hematopoietic stem cell transplants. The above two points can be seen that AIDS is terrible, if the spread of AIDS is not strict, it is estimated that in less than a hundred years, AIDS may infect all human beings. Hepatitis B is also terrible, but now there is a very good way to prevent and control it, that is, to give susceptible people vaccination against hepatitis B, through this simple method can block most of the transmission, and may even one day be able to control the smallpox virus like people, completely eliminating the spread of it in the world, can only be obedient to stay in the laboratory. The characteristics of the virus of AIDS are very special, although the whole world has invested huge sums of money, up to now, there is still no effective vaccine that can be used on a large scale, and the various antiviral treatment programs are not nearly perfect, expensive, side effects not to mention the fact that the virus is also easy to resist the drug, which is the terrible thing about AIDS. Hepatitis B, after years of human efforts, not only has a vaccine to prevent the spread of hepatitis B, but also has a set of mature treatment programs, the cost of drugs is also very low, and in our country are included in the medical insurance reimbursement. In addition, our motherland medicine Chinese medicine in the treatment of hepatitis B also has a unique, hepatitis B in our country at present, although the number of patients is huge, but has been insufficient. Based on the above factors, it is not difficult to understand the introduction of such a policy at the national level.

Hepatitis B antiviral treatment is not expensive, as it would be more expensive than Hepatitis B oral antiviral drugs if HIV drugs were not free.

The reasons for this are, on the one hand, because the treatment of AIDS is a combination of drugs, and it is natural that more drugs will be more expensive; and on the other hand, because new drugs for the treatment of AIDS are constantly being introduced, and new drugs will generally be more expensive.

In fact, the State has already put in place some welfare policies for hepatitis B patients. For example, the centralized drug procurement policy 4+7, which was implemented last year, has already reduced the prices of the domestically produced anti-hepatitis B virus drugs entecavir and tenofovir to a very low level.

Currently, tenofovir costs less than $20 per month in many places, and entecavir costs even less, even less than $5 per month, which is very close to free. If this is still not affordable, it is recommended to consider applying for local state poverty assistance.

Antivirals for HIV are completely free, as are regular CD4 and viral load tests at the CDC. But like Hepatitis B, they have to pay for their other tests and treatments as well.

The drugs used to treat opportunistic infections and tumors in AIDS do not cost any less than those used for hepatitis B. For example, some of the serious opportunistic, infections that occur usually require the use of very expensive anti-bacterial and fungal drugs.

However, free of charge and paying a small fee still give people a different feeling. After receiving free medication at home, HIV-infected people are usually able to take their medication on time and follow the prescribed regular review. On the other hand, it is more common for people infected with the hepatitis B virus to take their medication irregularly, give up their treatment, and fail to follow up on their checkups. The key point is the lack of management by doctors.

The difference between Hepatitis B and AIDS is also that most of Hepatitis B is a state of chronic infection, many people do not develop the disease or potentially develop the disease, the disease is a slow progression, and there are many lifelong healthy carriers. AIDS is not the same, the infection to a certain time, the body's immunity gradually decline, there will be a variety of opportunistic infections and tumors, if not actively treated, the consequences are very serious.

This is also a factor that policy makers need to consider. But the free treatment proposed by the netizens is still more feasible in Dr. Long's opinion, because although there are more than 70 million hepatitis B virus-infected people in China, more than half of them may be mere carriers throughout their lives and do not need treatment.

In this way, giving free medicines to those in need of treatment can not only show the State's care for this group of people, but also protect their health, which is a good thing that can be of immense merit in stabilizing the family and society for the benefit of future generations. In the long run, it will also reduce the economic burden caused by illness.

wrap-up

Hepatitis B and AIDS are both infectious diseases that have a significant impact, and both can be transmitted through sex, blood, and mother-to-child transmission. The common preventive measures are basically the same, but Hepatitis B can also be prevented by acquiring antibodies through vaccination, which is much better than AIDS.

There is no vaccine for HIV, however, like Hepatitis B, it needs to be prevented by avoiding behaviors such as unclean sex and unsafe injections. Both Hepatitis B and HIV can be prevented through mother-to-child interruption measures to prevent babies born to carriers of the virus from contracting the virus.

Since the prognosis of the two diseases is not the same, it is possible that the State is currently more inclined to care for AIDS-infected people in adopting welfare policies. However, if hepatitis B is included in the free welfare policy, it will be a good thing for the benefit of future generations.

I am a clinician who loves science, seeing patients, consulting, answering questions, solving puzzles, popularizing medical knowledge, and experiencing the power of warm words in the midst of my hurried clinical work!

Feel free to like, comment, retweet and favorite this article if it was useful to you. For more medical knowledge, stay tuned to Dr. Long!

Is this cost called for by the state?