Pune, Chennai to take part in global AIDS study

Can anti-HIV treatment8212;also known as Anti-Retroviral Therapy 8212;prevent sexual transmission of HIV?...

Can anti-HIV treatment8212;also known as Anti-Retroviral Therapy ART8212;prevent sexual transmission of HIV? Can married couples look at ART as a way of preventing HIV transmission? Researchers across the world hope to answer these questions by embarking on a multi-centric clinical trial involving 1,750 HIV discordant couples one is infected while the other is not. Pune-based National AIDS Research Institute NARI and Chennai-based YRG Care will be part of this clinical trial.

Dr Sanjay Mehendale, Deputy Director, Senior Grade, NARI, and principal investigator of the trial said that an observational study conducted by NARI had shown that counselling strategies and use of condoms helped lower cases of HIV infection among discordant couples. NARI researchers, along with those from Brazil, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Thailand and USA, will assess the possibility of using ART as a prevention tool.

Studies show that married women face a greater risk of getting infected. According to the National AIDS Control Organisation, 5.7 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in India. Nearly 40 per cent of all HIV positive people in India were women

NARI8217;s observational study from September 2002 to November 2004, where 457 HIV -1 sero-discordant, married couples were enrolled, showed that HIV incidence among uninfected partners was 1.22 per 100 person-years. This was much lower than what was reported among HIV discordant couples in Africa. Dr Manisha Ghate, Assistant Director, NARI, and coordinator of the study said, 8220;In Africa, out of every 100 couples followed for a year, there were eight to 10 people who turned sero-positive or got the infection from the partner. In India, only six out of 457 couples turned sero-positive.8221;

The trial is being sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, USA, and will be spread over a period of five years. NARI in Pune will enroll 250 couples, half of whom will receive ART at the time of joining the study while the rest will receive ART when their CD4 count falls below 250.