Eight million people now being treated for HIV_美文

Eight million people now being treated for HIV

Dr. Hirnschall says, in recent years, doctors have suggested that people start on treatment much earlier.

GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL: “If you start as soon as possible -- and that’s what’s happening now in the US with the policy change that just took place -- you may have a benefit to the patient. WHO now recommends initiation of treatment below a CD4 cell count of 350, which means that the immune system has already some signs of weakening, but that the patient is still not very sick yet.”

The WHO official says many infections could be avoided by giving treatment earlier.

MARIO RITTER: Two recent studies have confirmed the effectiveness of what is being called the “treatment as prevention” plan. One study involved what researchers call discordant couples, where one person has HIV and the other does not. The study found that drugs were 96% effective in preventing the spread of the virus.

The second study showed the effectiveness of giving drugs to people who were not infected.

GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL: “Even if you give drugs prior to exposure - in other words to HIV-negative persons -- referred to as pre-exposure prophylaxis -- you may also protect this person from becoming infected. So the whole field of the use of anti-retrovirals has become more and more exciting, but at the same time more complex.”

Dr. Hirnschall says it would cost more in the short-term to put more people on anti-retrovirals sooner -- probably billions more. But he says, in the long-term, the cost will drop and lives will be saved.