‘Early Drug Use, Prevents HIV Transmission’

A global study on the early use of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs by people living with HIV, lowers the risk of transmitting the virus to partner by 96 per cent.

The study which largely hetereo-sexual covered in Africa, India and the Americas was tagged by HIV/AIDS experts as a “game-changer”, that will improve the management of the disease, 30 years after it was first isolated.

According to the study, the breakthrough is the first to show an actual impact of ARV in preventing the transmission of the virus to an HIV-negative partner, since it was first discovered to improve the health of infected persons.

The leader of the study group, Myron Cohen, said that the study was the first randomised clinical trial to definitely indicate that an HIV-infected individuals could reduce sexual transmission of HIV to an uninfected partner by beginning antiretroviral therapy earlier”.

Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Michel Sidibe, said the success of the study would drive the prevention revolution forward”.

According to United Nations (UN) figures, about 80 per cent of new infections occur through sex.

About 60 million people worldwide were infected with the human immuned deficiency virus with 25 million people death since the first dead from the disease were recorded 30 years ago.

Antiretroviral treatment was first introduced in the 1990s as a combination of drugs that can reduce the viral load in the blood to below detectable levels but has shown serious side-effects such as, nausea, vomiting diarrhea and weight loss.

The drugs which were originally designed as treatment, are now being tested for prevention, as a pill taken by gay men at risk of unsafe sex and as virginal gel for women.

Early data from the trial is encouraging, as it indicates that early treatment of an infected person can have a major impact on reducing HIV transmission, while also having an impact on treatment guidelines.