“In the early 1980s, the emergence of a new syndrome, later named Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), challenged the mid-century medical consensus that infectious diseases were on the verge of permanent defeat in the developed world. While the development of antiretroviral therapies (ART) in the 1990s transformed HIV/AIDS from a fatal epidemic into a manageable chronic condition for patients who could access them, the high cost of these treatments created a stark division. In sub-Saharan Africa, which accounted for the vast majority of global infections, access to these life-saving drugs was severely restricted for years due to patent protections and underfunded healthcare systems, leading to millions of preventable deaths before international agreements and generic manufacturing lowered costs.”
Which of the following best explains the global disparities in access to the medical technologies described in the passage?
- AThe re-establishment of direct colonial administration by Western powers to manage public health crises in newly independent African states.
- BThe rapid homogenization of global healthcare systems, which led to the complete elimination of traditional indigenous medical practices.
- The commercial and legal frameworks of globalization, such as patent protections, which prioritized corporate profits over equitable drug distribution.Answer
- DThe environmental degradation associated with the Green Revolution, which directly accelerated the spread of new viral pathogens in agricultural communities.