HIV pills edge closer to wider availability
HIV pills edge closer to widespread availability
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Thursday, 20, Nov 2008 04:56
Pills that can lower the rate of HIV infections and save millions of lives might be widely available in the near future.
The medicine helps guard users against the virus during unprotected sex and could lower the possibility of infection by up to 70 per cent, the New Scientist reports.
These pills are not an alternative to condoms, but they can be a helpful additional safety measure.
The tactic behind the medicine is called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Only a limited few have access to PrEP, though this could change following current tests and trials the pills are undergoing.
This news comes as other developments are made in the treatment and prevention of HIV called Antiretroviral Therapy (ART). ART is a treatment used for infants who have been diagnosed with HIV.
A trial called Children with HIV Eearly Antiretroviral Theraphy (CHER) showed babies who undergo ART immediately after their diagnosis have a 76 per cent increased likelihood of surviving.
The therapy also reduces the chance of measurable progression of the disease in their early years of life, according to results published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
CHER's results were so extraordinary the World Health Organisation (WHO) immediately implemented ART into its guidelines for treating infants with HIV.
Europe and the US have also altered their treatment policies according to the recommendations of CHER.
"We are delighted that our study in South Africa has led to changes in WHO guidelines and that immediate treatment is now recommended wherever possible. It is to be hoped that this will save countless babies across the world, especially in low-income countries where mother-to-child transmission is still common," said Professor Mark Cotton, one member of the Johannesburg and Cape Town team, where CHER was run.
The long-term effectiveness of ART is not yet known, though the short-term results provide more than enough justification for the treatment.
Previous treatments only began once babies began to show symptoms of the disease, though by this time it was often too late. Countless babies have died within hours of first exposure of the virus' symptoms.
Though ART is not a cure for HIV or AIDS and depends on early diagnosis, which requires a great deal of resources, scientists are still hopeful about the long-term benefits of the therapy.