Pune: Doctors welcome WHO guidelines on treatment of HIV affected
With its ‘treat-all’ recommendation, WHO has removed all limitations on eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living with HIV as all age groups are now eligible for the treatment.
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Anyone infected with HIV should begin antiretroviral treatment as soon as possible after diagnosis, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced recently. With its ‘treat-all’ recommendation, WHO has removed all limitations on eligibility for antiretroviral therapy (ART) among people living with HIV as all age groups are now eligible for the treatment.
Dr IS Gilada, President, AIDS Society of India, said that 2015 marked 30 years of India’s fight against AIDS. “This is also the first time that we are witnessing the strongest evidence-based WHO HIV guidelines to provide ART treatment to all testing positive for HIV, regardless of CD4 counts,” Gilada said.
However, according to Dr Sanjay Pujari, an AIDS expert and consulting physician who has been treating HIV positive people for over 20 years, the economics of testing everybody will have to be considered by the governments concerned. “While ending AIDS by 2030 is the new mantra, it is more important for the government to sustain
prevention programmes and prioritise high risk groups,” Pujari said.
According to the WHO, people at a ‘substantial’ risk of HIV should be offered preventive antiretroviral treatment. The new guideline stresses that in order to effectively implement the recommendations, countries will need to ensure that testing and treatment of HIV infection are readily available and those undergoing treatment are
supported to adhere to recommended regimens and retained in care.
According to UNAIDS estimates, expanding ART to all people living with HIV and expanding prevention choices can help avert 21 million AIDS-related deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.
“While there still needs a lot to be done to reduce the incidence of AIDS, there has been tremendous progress in the treatment and management of HIV since it was first labelled as an epidemic,” says Dr Shashank R Joshi, Immediate Past President, Association of Physicians of India (API).
“Today, HIV patients are able to lead not just qualitatively better lives, but also live longer thanks to medical advancements. ART has changed HIV from a life-threatening disease to a chronically manageable condition,” Joshi added.
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