HIV no longer a death sentence

RESULTS from the largest HIV prevention trial to date have shown there is a way, through early detection and immediate treatment according to in-country guidelines, to reduce new HIV infections by 30%.

The study examined the impact of a package of HIV prevention interventions on community-level HIV incidence in urban and peri-urban communities in South Africa and Zambia, and saw hundreds of community HIV care providers going door-to-door over a period of four years.

More than 1 million people were involved in the study.

And the successful intervention saw the coupling of the on-the-ground testing approach with the immediate referral to HIV care, and treatment based on prevailing in-country guidelines.

The study has shed light on the difficulties patients face between diagnosis and accessing care, and significantly highlighted the success of regular door-to-door HIV testing which isn’t part of the public health service offering.

Just days ago, it was announced that a bone-marrow stem cell transplant led to an HIV positive patient going into long-term remission.

Although the man has been in remission for 18 months, the authors of the study cautioned it was too early to say he had been cured.

The technique may not necessarily be effective for all HIV-infected individuals, but these are still giant steps in the fight against HIV – not only in the scientific battle against the virus, but in destigmatising the disease and our loved ones living with it.

HIV really is no longer a death sentence.