Antiretroviral Treatment as prevention

What you should know:

Successful suppression of HIV replication through the use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) not only significantly reduces AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, but also drastically reduces transmissibility of HIV. Currently there is a common agreement that in order to implement ART as a prevention intervention, it should be combined with other interventions such as testing, needle exchange, circumcision and others. People will need to start ART earlier in the course of their disease and HIV test uptake and access to health care delivery would need to be improved. In addition, there is a need to for more resources, including funding, health care infrastructure and personnel, community-based services and human right protections.

Why the issue is important for us as treatment activists:

Many health experts and policy makers claim that AIDS funding causes other health response efforts to fail. There is a shrift in some donor’s policies from any disease-specific funding and toward generalized funding to strengthen health-care systems.

Advocates should be able to develop arguments based on sound evidence showing that investment in AIDS-related health care infrastructure, prevention and treatment will have not only a positive outcome on AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, but also a decline in overall incidence of new infections. Reducing mortality, morbidity and incidence will lessen the overall effect and impact of the HIV epidemic on health-care systems and economic security.

Read ‘treatment as prevention’ related articles:

News.aaas.org: New HIV/AIDS Plan Would Test, Treat Everyone in High-Risk Regions

Pslgroup.com: Antiretroviral Therapy Can Reduce Risk of HIV Transmission to Uninfected Sexual Partners: Presented at CROI

Sciencespeaks: More Evidence That ART Is Treatment & Prevention

AIDSMAP: HIV treatment may prevent at least nine out of ten transmissions

AIDSMAP: Treatment as prevention must not violate human rights, conference told