system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Is HIV actually "cured" or not?

There have been a lot of posts in News and Science and stuff like that about new cases of HIV being "functionally cured." What does this mean? Is it a solution, or just a first step towards a solution? Does the treatment work all the time, or occasionally? Do we know yet?
gpt
Essentially, with modern treatments, doctors can make sure that if you catch it early and can afford the treatment, they can prevent it from turning into AIDS for a very long time. The "functional cure" stuff is typical media exaggeration, though it does hold some promise for future treatments. What a "functional cure" means is that the severity of the infection stays low even after the treatment is stopped, which is different how the current treatments we use work. What they've found only works for some people, though.

Basically, what doctors can do is keep the amount of HIV in your system low enough that it's very unlikely to turn into AIDS, which is what kills you. HIV used to be a death sentence, but now people who are HIV+ can live long and relatively healthy lives as long as it's detected early and treated. However, the treatments do not get rid of the HIV, so it can still be transferred, and it will come back if you stop taking your medicine.