Treatment Saves Lives, Money

Expanding the availability of HIV antiretroviral therapy to 50 percent of eligible British Columbians would avert 1,360 new HIV infections and save about $21 million (US $20.5 million) over the ensuing five years, new Canadian research shows.

HIV treatment reduces the likelihood of spreading the disease among 90 percent of those given therapy, said Dr. Julio Montaner, one of the researchers and director of the British Columbia Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

Their analysis lends support to the idea that aggressive and early treatment of HIV is de facto prevention, said Montaner. "At the end of the day, this is a key strategy to control the epidemic."

The study was based on the experience of 4,379 people in British Columbia on antiretroviral therapy, a program developed in part at the British Columbia Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. The researchers defined the baseline as outcomes under their current protocols based on 2006 guidelines from the International AIDS Society-USA. Researchers then compared projected outcomes using 2008 IAS-USA guidelines, which expanded treatment eligibility criteria, with the 2006 protocols.

Organizations around the world, such as the United Nations and the International AIDS Society World Federation, will be adopting the expanded treatment approach on the strength of lower costs and extended life expectancy, Montaner said.

"The study results are critically important because they reinforce the significant individual and society benefits of starting earlier HIV treatment and provide further momentum for treatment as prevention, which - in the absence of a vaccine or cure - remains the best way to contain and halt the spread of HIV," Montaner said.

The full report, "Expanding HAART Treatment to All Currently Eligible Individuals Under the 2008 IAS-USA Guidelines in British Columbia, Canada," was published in PLoS ONE (2010:5(6): e10991. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010991).

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org/.


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