| Date | May 2009 | Marks available | 4 | Reference code | 09M.3.sl.TZ2.D5 |
| Level | SL | Paper | 3 | Time zone | TZ2 |
| Command term | Describe | Question number | D5 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Describe and explain difficulties associated with solving the AIDS problem.
Markscheme
HIV invades/bind to white blood cells/T4/T cells / OWTTE;
HIV viruses can mutate;
HIV viruses have similar metabolism to (human) cells/uses host cells to replicate;
high price of (antiretroviral) drugs / socioeconomic / cultural issues;
Examiners report
The question was answered surprisingly poorly. Many candidates gave a description of the mechanism of action of anti-viral drugs, but made no reference to socio-economic issues, other gave a detailed description of socio-economic issues, and only obtained one mark.
