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UN urges new drugs and tech to fight HIV
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The development of new antiretroviral (ARV) drugs and the use of technology for early diagnosis are among the steps needed to sustain momentum in combating HIV and AIDS, and ending the disease as a threat to public health by 2030, a UNAIDS report said yesterday.
The United Nations agency said about 21 million people were receiving life-prolonging ARV treatment by June this year. There has been rapid progress in the past five years as the numbers of people accessing medication have nearly doubled.
“The pace of scale-up has been particularly remarkable in eastern and southern Africa, the region most affected by the epidemic,” said the “Right to Health” report.
The number of people on treatment in the region exceeded all other regions combined in 2010, and presently accounts for 60 percent of all people on treatment. South Africa led the world with 4.2 million people on treatment, followed by India, Mozambique and Kenya which each have more than 1 million people being treated.
UNAIDS said the worldwide expansion of ARV therapy was the main factor behind a 48 percent fall in the number of deaths from AIDS-related illnesses, from a peak of 1.9 million in 2005 to 1 million last year.
New first-line ARVs, such as dolutegravir, which cause fewer side effects and suppress viral loads more quickly, would help countries such as South Africa to save money and treat more people, Aaron Motsoaledi, the country’s health minister, said at the report’s launch.
“In the next six years South Africa is going to save 11 billion rand (US$783 million) on HIV/AIDS treatment, meaning that we are going to treat more people with the same amount of resources,” he said.
Last year, a major milestone was reached when, for the first time, more than half of all people living with HIV worldwide were accessing ARV therapy, said the report.
But the disease, which attacks the immune system and makes the body more susceptible to illness, remains a significant killer.
AIDS-related illnesses remain the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age (between 15 and 49 years) globally.
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