UN report urges funds for early HIV treatment
Source: Agencies |
June 5, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE United Nations AIDS agency on Friday urged increased funding for early treatment of people with HIV following a new international study showing it could dramatically reduce the number of new infections through sexual transmission.
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said pushing for early treatment "is at the top of the agenda" following the striking results of an international study overseen by the United States National Institutes of Health.
The nine-nation study offered convincing evidence of what scientists have long believed - that HIV medicines don't just benefit the patient, but may act as a preventive by making those people less infectious. Earlier treatment in the study meant patients were 96 percent less likely to spread the virus to their non-infected partners, according to preliminary results announced last month.
Sidibe told a news conference launching a new report by UNAIDS that early treatment and prevention efforts must also be accompanied by better skills for health workers and sex education for young people. "Access to treatment will transform the AIDS response in the next decade," Sidibe said. "Anti-retroviral therapy is a bigger game-changer than ever before - it not only stops people from dying, but also prevents transmission of HIV to women, men and children."
Sidibe stressed that billions of dollars will be needed to meet the agency's vision for the future - "zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths."
UNAIDS released the 139-page study ahead of today's 30th anniversary of the first official report of what would become the HIV epidemic by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said pushing for early treatment "is at the top of the agenda" following the striking results of an international study overseen by the United States National Institutes of Health.
The nine-nation study offered convincing evidence of what scientists have long believed - that HIV medicines don't just benefit the patient, but may act as a preventive by making those people less infectious. Earlier treatment in the study meant patients were 96 percent less likely to spread the virus to their non-infected partners, according to preliminary results announced last month.
Sidibe told a news conference launching a new report by UNAIDS that early treatment and prevention efforts must also be accompanied by better skills for health workers and sex education for young people. "Access to treatment will transform the AIDS response in the next decade," Sidibe said. "Anti-retroviral therapy is a bigger game-changer than ever before - it not only stops people from dying, but also prevents transmission of HIV to women, men and children."
Sidibe stressed that billions of dollars will be needed to meet the agency's vision for the future - "zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths."
UNAIDS released the 139-page study ahead of today's 30th anniversary of the first official report of what would become the HIV epidemic by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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