There's this great US article that sums up the problem with our current focus away from Prevention, and almost entirely on Treatment (which doesn't come close to hitting the mark).

A Vital Part of Healthcare Reform: Change How We Educate Our Doctors

Currently, we are stuck in this model that is symptom-suppression. Exactly how are you to know that you are in pain, sick, deathly ill, is drugs mask the signs? 

The clinical utility of Oralmat Drops Solution has become increasingly clear. Controlled clinical trials have been completed regarding its effectiveness for the treatment of mild to moderate adult asthma. Although no formal trial has been conducted regarding its role for people with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the value of Oralmat for such disease has become apparent. This represents clinical observations gathered both from a physician’s standpoint as well as from the patient’s perspective.

It has been demonstrated that asymptomatic persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have significantly reduced levels of extracellular glutathione.1 Serum glutathione was only one-third of the level of healthy controls. The level of glutathione (GSH) in lung epithelial lining fluid was only 60% of that in controls. All subjects were non-smokers.

http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/articles/1992-v07n02-p104.html

I just recently passed the fourth birthday that my doctors never expected me to have. I have been dealing with A.I.D.S.-related problems for at least the past five years, and I have probably been carrying the "A.I.D.S. Virus", or whatever causes A.I.D.S., for the past ten years, maybe longer. I have had two serious diseases that are now thought to be related to A.I.D.S., but which are not officially classified as opportunistic infections.

It is generally agreed that ageing is associated with impaired immune responses and increased infection-related morbidity. In 1992, an eminent immunologist from Newfoundland, Canada and Johns Hopkins assessed the effect of physiologic amounts of vitamins and trace elements on immunocompetence and occurrence of infection-related illness.1 He assigned 96 independently living ambulatory healthy elderly individuals to receive either routine daily maintenance vitamin supplementation or placebo.

This paper will discuss, in a brief form, the importance of the role of vitamin C in the development of cancer and its influence on the immunologic status of the elderly.

http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1992/articles/1992-v07n04-p203.html

I am a retired chemical engineer who enjoys reading medical papers and books. Recently while re-reading a 15 year old text on vitamin C,1 I was struck by three facts whose value is almost universally ignored. An engineer, by force of reason, would draw a conclusion which could challenge the medical world.

http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1997/articles/1997-v12n03-p185.shtml