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Not only can antiretroviral therapy provide significant disease-free survival benefits to people living with HIV, it can also greatly curb the spread of the virus and reduce new cases of the infection where treatment is made widely available. But according to a commentary published in the July 1 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, authored by Julio Montaner, MD, and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia, the use of HIV treatment as a prevention strategy has been largely overlooked by public health officials.
The use of treatment as a prevention strategy has long been a major component of public health, including efforts to prevent the ongoing transmission of infections like tuberculosis, syphilis and genital herpes. “However,” Dr. Montaner and his fellow experts write, “public health policymakers and program managers have been reluctant to accept this strategy as viable for preventing the growth of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.”
According to the authors, access to effective antiretroviral therapy has been linked to substantial reductions in new HIV cases in various populations. Research in Taiwan, for example, found a 53 percent reduction in new HIV diagnoses after the introduction of access to combination HIV treatment.
“Treatment as an aid to prevention should be explored in diverse settings, including in developed and developing countries,” the authors write. “Evidence derived from these research efforts will decrease AIDS-related morbidity and mortality and inform policymakers about the role of treatment as an aid to prevention.”
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Previous Comments:
comments 1 - 3 (of 3 total)
DaleLW, Tucson, 2008-07-04 10:27:20
Go for it......
Mike Jettson, St. Petersburg, 2008-07-02 15:59:38
If I understand this correctly, Dr. Montaner seems to be saying that HIV+ persons have a lower chance of infecting others if they are being treated. While this is intuitively obvious... it flys in the face of what the medical community has been insisting. There's other 'research' out there... but it's a bit sketchy.
John Hopkins, Atlanta, Georgia, 2008-07-02 15:45:57
I have seen private docs use Teneforvir as a preventative agent on a post exposure basis and have suggested it's use for a discordant couple here in Georgia who's relationship was less than one month old. The partners employer's insurance carrier paid for the treatment. So it is being done in a small number of cases but is not the general rule.
