EARLY HIV TREATMENT WILL SAVE LIVES AND MONEY, WHO SAYS
Baku, July 20 (AZERTAC). HIV-related deaths could be reduced by 20% over the next five years if treatment begins earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says in fresh guidance, BBC reports.
There were over 5m people receiving treatment for the virus at the end of 2009, up more than a million from 2008 - the largest ever increase in a year.
The guidelines would raise the number needing treatment to 15m by 2015.
But there are concerns about funding as countries potentially cut back on aid.
Unveiling its first new guidance for four years at the Aids 2010 conference in Vienna, the WHO says it wants treatment with a cocktail of drugs to begin before the virus seriously undermines the patient`s immune system.
This means changing the threshold at which a drugs regimen should be started from 200 CD4 cells per microlitre of blood to 350, regardless of symptoms. These cells are the key marker of the health of the immune system.
Starting treatment sooner could prevent opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, which is the number one killer of those with HIV.
"In addition to saving lives, earlier treatment also has prevention benefits," says Dr Gottfried Hirnschall WHO director of HIV/Aids.
