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For the last week of November, the topics chosen for the fifth edition of Making It Clear were: instabilities inside Iran, the rising of far-right candidates in Chile and the new HIV treatment approved by the UK.
Iran has faced many instabilities along its history and recently, violent protests rose against the water shortages on the country due to unequal division of the Zayandeh Rud river, which is the largest one in times of drought, and farmers are concerned about their lives and jobs. The protests began in July over the same matter, and the UN criticized the violet approach of the Iranian authorities toward protesters, including fatal shooting and tear gas against them. Also, mobile internet is unavailable in areas affected by the protests in order to, apparently, stop the spread of videos that might jeopardize the government’s image. Iran is the most affected Middle Eastern country by the COVID-19 pandemic and it’s experiencing the worst drought in 50 years, which is the excuse used by the government to justify the shortage of water that it’s yet to be confirmed.
In Chile, the second round of elections and its candidates are becoming very popular in the news because of the far-right candidate José Antonio Kast and the heavy polarization phenomenon after a season of protests against the government. The elections are happening on December 19 and Kast is being currently compared to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, the candidate affirmed that the election is a choice between “liberty and communism”, accusing the left-wing candidate, Gabriel Boric, of taking the country to the same path as Venezuela and Cuba, if elected. Researchers claimed that this election is not showing the fact that the extremisms has increased, but the center parties had decreased. The country is now politically divided, like Brazil once was in 2018 elections and so far, the scenarios are very similar.
Earlier this month a new HIV treatment was approved by the United Kingdom, which is a jab taken every two months. This new treatment is a substitute to the oral one, taken daily by infected individuals. The treatment is not a vaccine or a cure for HIV, but it can reduce the virus load in the patient’s blood so
drastically that it can no longer be transmitted or detected. Scientists say that it’s incredible news and it will improve the life of those who carry the HIV virus, not only in a physical way, but emotional, since it can be a heavy burden to some.
Even though technology is improving many treatments, not only to COVID-19, the world is facing many problems towards political disagreements and polarizations, also governmental instabilities, especially in developing countries such as Chile and Iran. The development gap is crucial to the topics analyzed; hence the most modern HIV treatment being approved in a “first-world” country like the United Kingdom.
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