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New antiretroviral treatment guidelines were formally launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) at the conference. The WHO guidelines are mainly used in resourced-limited settings.Key changes include a recommendation that treatment should be started earlier – at a CD4 cell count of 350 rather than 200. Starting treatment at higher CD4 cell counts has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV-related illnesses, and other serious illnesses as well, such as cardiovascular disease.
WHO estimates that this will increase the number of patients eligible for treatment from 10 million to 15 million. The guidelines also endorse the use of safer combinations, central to which is the phasing out of therapy with d4T. All HIV-positive patients with tuberculosis (TB) are now recommended to start antiretroviral therapy regardless of their CD4 cell count.
There’s also an acknowledgement in the revised guidelines that increasing the coverage of treatment has public health benefits, and could help slow the pace of the epidemic. There’s growing consensus that taking HIV treatment significantly lowers the risk of transmission of the virus.
Dr Kevin Moody of the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) welcomed the new guidelines, saying: “We think it will help to improve people’s quality of life, and people will have better health outcomes. We are also interested in the fact that earlier treatment may have prevention benefits.”
Coinciding with the release of the guidelines, WHO released figures that showed that five million people are now taking antiretroviral drugs.
To view the guidelines, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org/files/Antiretroviral_Therapy_for_HIV_Infection_in_Adults_Adolescents.pdf
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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