The disease remains uncured, but it can be suppressed. Even with
full investment, the curve reflecrting total infections will simply
flatten out for some time until it begins a precipitous decline.
Then it will take a couple of decades before incidence is low enough
to make ordinary methods sufficient to keep it in check if not
extinct.
The point is that it is a global program and it remains to be seen if
humanity is up to producing a global program at all.
Besides if we are prepared to go that far, we may as well use the
platform to tackle all infectious disease at the same time. Victims
can then become a resource able to help bring others in as needed.
It is a good idea that needs to become a model for global
application.
No excuse' for not
turning tide on AIDS: expert
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) July 22, 2012
International group
urges prompt HIV treatment for all
Washington (AFP) July 22, 2012 - An international group of scientists on Sunday called for all adults who test positive for HIV to be treated with antiretroviral drugs right away rather than waiting for their immune systems to weaken.
The recommendations by
the International Antiviral Society are the first by a global group
to make such a call, and were released at the 19th International AIDS
Conference in Washington, the world's largest meeting on HIV/AIDS.
Other major groups,
such as the World Health Organization, currently urge treatment after
the disease progresses to a certain point, or when the body's
T-cells, or CD4 count, reaches or falls below the level of 350
cells/mm3.
"These guidelines
are aspirational," said Melanie Thompson, a doctor with the AIDS
Research Consortium of Atlanta, urging increased testing and better
care of those who test positive for HIV.
The guidelines are
based on new trial data and drug regimens that have become available
in the last two years which warrant an "update to guidelines for
antiretroviral treatment in HIV-infected adults in resource-rich
settings."
Some 34 million
people in the world are living with HIV, according to the latest
UNAIDS report issued last week. However, about one in five people are
not aware of their status and are most at risk of spreading the
disease.
Some eight million
people in low and middle income countries are now on antiretroviral
treatment, making up about half of those in the world who need it,
the UNAIDS report said.
Asked by a reporter if
the guidelines were realistic in the current global cash-crunch
environment, Thompson replied: "I actually reject the idea that
there is not enough money for care and for drugs for antiretroviral
therapy.
"I think it is a
matter of political will. I think it is a matter of prioritizing and
recognizing that treatment of HIV is cost-effective. It may be
cost-saving as well," she said.
"The science
should drive the allocation of resources and guidelines can play an
important role in that respect."
The full guidelines
are published in Sunday's theme issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association, which focuses on HIV/AIDS.
"Unfortunately
most people in the world are not going to benefit from our guideline
recommendations," Thompson said, noting that most people seek
care too late, by the time they already have full-blown AIDS.
Science has given the
world "no excuse" to resist bold action against the spread
of the 30-year AIDS pandemic, said a top US expert at the opening of
the International AIDS Conference on Sunday.
This year's meeting,
themed "Turning the Tide Together," is the world's largest
gathering on HIV/AIDS and is expected to draw 25,000 people,
including politicians, scientists, celebrities and activists.
High-profile guests at
the six-day event include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who
will speak on Monday at 1400 GMT, former president Bill Clinton,
former first lady Laura Bush, singer Elton John and actress Whoopi
Goldberg.
President Barack Obama
will not attend in person but will send a video message and will
invite some attendees to the White House for talks on Thursday, a top
health official said.
Many experts have
spoken of their optimism in the days leading up to the event. But
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases, said the pace of progress must accelerate.
"The fact remains
that right now, today, in the summer of 2012, 31 years after the
first cases were reported, there is no excuse scientifically to say
we cannot do it," Fauci said.
"What we need now
is the political, organizational and individual will to implement
what science has given us."
Fauci cited the recent
UNAIDS report released last week that showed there were 2.5 million
new infections worldwide in 2011, down from 2.7 million in the prior
report.
"But that makes
the slope look like that," he said, holding out a flat hand.
"That is unacceptable."
Among the tools that
scientists have are trials that show treatment can reduce the risk of
transmitting the virus to others, and antiretroviral drugs that, when
taken by healthy people, can help reduce their risk of becoming
infected.
Also on opening day,
an international group of scientists called for all adults who test
positive for HIV to be treated with antiretroviral drugs right away
rather than waiting for their immune systems to weaken.
The International
Antiviral Society is the first global group to make such a call.
Other major groups,
such as the World Health Organization, currently urge treatment after
the disease progresses to a certain point, or when the body's T-cell
count, or CD4 count, reaches or falls below the level of 350
cells/mm3.
"These guidelines
are aspirational," said Melanie Thompson, a doctor with the AIDS
Research Consortium of Atlanta, urging increased testing and better
care of those who test positive for HIV.
"The science
should drive the allocation of resources and guidelines can play an
important role in that respect."
Some 34 million people
in the world are living with HIV, according to the latest UNAIDS
report issued last week. However, about one in five people are not
aware of their status and are most at risk of spreading the disease.
Some eight million
people in low and middle income countries are now on antiretroviral
treatment, making up about half of those in the world who need it,
the UNAIDS report said.
Held every two years,
the conference has returned to the United States for the first time
since 1990, after being kept away by laws that barred people with HIV
from traveling to the country. The US ban was formally lifted in
2009.
The hunt for a cure,
which has eluded scientists, will be another hot topic. HIV
co-discoverer and Nobel laureate Francoise Barre-Sinoussi announced
on Thursday a new roadmap for scientists in research toward a cure.
The only man who has
achieved a functional cure of HIV though a bone marrow transplant,
American Timothy Brown, also known as the "Berlin patient,"
will address the conference on Tuesday at 1500 GMT to publicize new
efforts in this direction.
Funding, too, is at a
critical juncture, with many nations boosting their domestic spending
on the disease while international donations remain flat.
Total worldwide
investment in HIV was $16.8 billion last year, an 11 percent rise
from 2010, but still far short of the $22-24 billion needed by 2015,
according to UNAIDS.
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