PARIS: Calling the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic “the most important global health challenge in modern history,” more than 50 top scientists pressed their case on Monday for a drive to stop the killer disease in its tracks. Anchored by Nobel Medicine Laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, the group unveiled an aggressive research strategy for an outright cure, an objective once seen as unrealistic and out of reach. “Not long ago, few considered the possibility that a cure for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection could someday be possible,” said Barre-Sinoussi, who in 1983 helped identify the mysterious virus that causes AIDS. “Today, the search for a cure has become a top priority in HIV research,” she said in a statement, hailing a new optimism among the experts. The blueprint is published in the Nature Medicine journal ahead of a meeting of the specialists on July 18-22 at the 21st International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa. The scientists take stock of many recent gains in treating the HIV, but argue that the solution for ending the pandemic lies in a cure. In 2004, deaths due to AIDS peaked at more than two million. Last year, the toll was around 1.2 million lives. The decline was attributed in large part to the success of anti-retroviral (ART) drugs, which reduce the symptoms of people carrying the virus. But out of the estimated 37 million people worldwide living with HIV less than half actually receive therapy. Helping them to grasp that lifeline would require a huge, lifelong commitment. On top of that, the powerful drugs could have toxic side-effects. The strategy warned that those problems are daunting and the economic costs might be unsustainable. As a result, preventing and destroying the virus should be top priorities. On the prevention scoreboard, experimental vaccines have showed promise but are probably years away. As for its eradication, scientists understand far better now how HIV remains barricaded in tissues, such as the lymph nodes and the gut, even after being beaten back by ART therapy – the standard drug cocktail given to HIV patients. Research has found that starting ART therapy early, limits the ability of the virus to establish a redoubt. The scientists also outlined an array of tactics for identifying how the virus tucks itself away inside the human body, and the methods for flushing it out and killing it. But, they said, “the challenges… remain substantial,” and there are still many pieces missing in the puzzle. One prime target is so-called CD4-plus T cells. These play a central role in the body’s immune system, which defends against viral and microbial intruders. HIV finds secret hideaways in long-lived “memory” versions of these cells, but how the virus does this is not fully understood. Another objective is to strengthen the immune system. Foot-soldiers known as “broadly neutralising antibodies” may be able to recognise these latently-infected cells, and then call on specialised “killer” cells to destroy them. The scientists said that better lab tools are needed for measuring HIV persistence. A common idea is that HIV only needs a few CD4-plus T cells to hideout. But sequencing of viral genomes suggests that the disease’s reservoir could be much larger. Barre-Sinoussi launched the cure initiative in 2010 among a small group of scientists, some of whom were doubtful that eradicating HIV, as opposed to holding it in check, was feasible. Two years later, the group developed its first long-term strategy, which is now being updated. Global investment in finding a cure has risen from $88 million (80 million euros) in 2012 to $202 million (183 million euros) in 2015, most of which came from the United States government.