A daily dose of anti-HIV medication nearly eradicates the risk of infection for people in a relationship with an HIV positive partner, a study showed on Tuesday, raising hopes of reducing HIV rates among one of Africa’s highest risk groups. The UN has set a target of ending the AIDS pandemic by 2030.
Advertisement
In contrast to new infections, the number of people living with HIV has significantly increased globally, largely due to the expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART).
The conference returns to Africa for the first time since 2000, coinciding with the thirty-fifth anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS.
Dr. Charles Wiysonge, a GBD collaborator and professor at the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town, noted in The Times article that “there is no reason we should be seeing half a million new infections”.
Kenya is also one of the countries with the lowest antiretroviral coverage, at 39 per cent, below the regional average that stands at 43 per cent.
“What I can do is ensure that people who are LGBT – if their clinics are closed down because they are LGBT – we can give them medicine”.
In a linked Comment, Dr Virginie Supervie and Dr Dominique Costagliola from the Pierre Louis Institute of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sorbonne Universités, Inserm/UPMC, Paris, France discuss the reliability of current approaches to estimate trends in HIV incidence and say that even the most recent estimates of the worldwide HIV burden may still underestimate the scale of the problem.
When the first International Aids Conference was held, HIV was a death sentence, Harry said.
THE world faces a new risk in the battle against HIV/AIDS: complacency.
The UN Secretary General noted that 20 million people do not access and 13 million still do not get the care they deserve. “The continuing high rate of over 2 million new HIV infections represents a collective failure which must be addressed through intensified prevention efforts and continued investment in HIV vaccine research”. This was a reduction from the more than 88,000 recorded in 2013; as we make progress, the numbers are still unsustainably high.
Baeten said the study was good news for serodiscordant couples – where one partner is HIV positive and the other HIV negative – who want to have children.
Advertisement
Access to treatment is not just about preventing disease and death.
