Science has delivered on HIV prevention. Now what?

21.07.2011 [19:59]
Print
A⁺ A^-

Baku, July 21 (AZERTAC). Scientists on Wednesday wrapped up their biggest forum in the 30-year history of AIDS, unveiling stunning weapons to prevent the spread of HIV.

The four-day conference in Rome will be remembered for these findings:

- Treatment as prevention: experts have long suspected that giving antiretroviral drugs to an HIV-infected person not only saves them from the death sentence of AIDS.

It also ratchets down the virus to such low levels that the patient becomes a far smaller risk for infecting others with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

- Pre-exposure prophylaxis: known by its acronym as PrEP, this means giving antiretrovirals protectively to the non-infected partner, as opposed to the infected partner.

The risk of HIV transmission falls by up to 73 percent, according to new trials reported in Rome.

But PrEP is likely to remain a niche rather than mainstream strategy, at least for now.

Around 6.6 million people in poorer countries have now grasped the daily drugs lifeline but another nine million badly-infected people are still in need.

- Circumcision: efforts in Africa to promote male circumcision, which reduces the risk of HIV infection for men by 60 percent, were given a powerful boost by three studies.

New cases of HIV among men plunged by 76 percent after a circumcision programme was launched in a South African township. Had no circumcisions been carried out, new infections among the overall population would have been 58 percent greater.

- Quest for cure: This once-unimaginable goal is now firmly on the scientific agenda.

The idea is to attack the virus in "reservoirs", where it retreats after being suppressed by drugs.

But identifying these lairs, flushing out the virus and devising drugs to kill it is the big task. Even those who believe it attainable say it would be a "functional cure", in the same way that cancer goes into remission and its rebound cannot be ruled out.

In 2010, resources drifted downwards to $15.9 billion as Western countries tightened their belts.

Just to get 15 million badly-infected people on AIDS drugs by 2015, in line with the newly stated goal by UN members, will require between $22 billion and $24 billion annually.

Even more will be needed if the WHO`s guidelines are revised to recommend immediate treatment rather than wait for infection levels to reach specific thresholds.

Emerging giant economies, led by China, which is sitting on $3.2 trillion of foreign reserves, will come under intensifying pressure to become donors to the Global Fund, rather than recipients of it.

Science has delivered on HIV prevention. Now what?

FEEDBACK