Health

You can't get addicted to drugs unless you're exposed to them. You have to be exposed in situation where you can determine the dose. If you take the drug long enough and in a high-enough dose… most drugs which are addictive, will give you withdrawal symptom… making you feel rotten, and giving you another reason to take more.

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

What's special about it as a science subject is that it is so awkward, it doesn't lend itself to easy solutions. It's a multi-factorial problem, very different to- for example- the question of what causes influenza?

Pioneer of addiction medicine and alcohol dependence research; founded modern addiction psychiatry

The awareness of life as being finite allows them (somewhat counter-intuitively) to live… This doesn't necessarily mean being reckless, but rather that they engage in activities which are positive for their well-being- things like travel, education, spending time with family and friends, and so on.

They used two wires hooked up to a car battery to give me electric shocks. They used electric stun-guns on my genitals twice. I thought I would never see my family again.

The guards hung me by my wrists from the ceiling for eight days…. After a few days of hanging, being denied sleep, it felt like my brain stopped working. I was imagining things. My feet got swollen on the third day. I felt pain that I have never felt in my entire life.

They forced me to undress. Then they started squeezing my fingers with pliers. They put staples in my fingers, chest and ears. I was only allowed to take them out if I spoke. The nails in the ears were the most painful.

That experience [of being tortured] has altered my whole life. You can never be the same person and anything you do is in reference to that moment. I have never been able to pass it.

The cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of action. Every day we delay comprehensive HIV programs, we're not just counting dollars - we're counting lives.

What makes HIV so challenging is its ability to integrate into the host genome and establish latency. This is why we haven't been able to cure it yet - the virus literally becomes part of us.

Co-discoverer of HIV as the cause of AIDS

We've transformed HIV from a death sentence to a manageable chronic condition, but prevention remains our greatest challenge. We need to reach the most vulnerable populations with the tools we have.

The virus doesn't discriminate, but our response to it has. We've seen how stigma and discrimination have fueled this epidemic more than the virus itself ever could.

We are at a crossroads where we can either win this battle against HIV or we can lose it. The science is there, the tools are there, but what we need now is the political will and the resources to finish the job.

Former Executive Director of UNAIDS, leading global HIV/AIDS response efforts

Human beings can become impaired through physical, mental or sensory limitations; but that does not become a disability until that impairment stops them from participating in community life.

Disability Rights Activist & Founder of the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People

Stress doesn't come from what's going on in your life. It comes from your thoughts about what's going on in your life.

The first human beings who will live to 1,000 years old have already been born.

Biogerontologist researching aging reversal and life extension therapies

Human rights violations are not just legal failures - they're public health crises. When we deny people their basic dignity, we create conditions that harm entire communities for generations.