New guidelines increase access to HIV/AIDS medication - California

AORN Journal, Sept, 2002

In response to the need to increase access to treatment for HIV and AIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International AIDS Society have produced new international guidelines for treating HIV and AIDS in resource-poor areas, according to a July 9, 2002, news release from WHO. The guidelines simplify complex antiretroviral therapy so that it can be used in areas without highly trained medical staff members and sophisticated laboratories.

An estimated six million people currently living with HIV or AIDS do not have access to care, including antiretroviral therapy. Fewer than 5% of those requiring treatment in developing countries have access to these medications; in Africa, fewer than 2% of the people who need antiretroviral therapy are receiving this treatment. The new guidelines establish a simplified public health approach to AIDS treatment, which potentially can provide antiretroviral treatment access to an additional three million people in developing countries by 2005, a ten-fold increase.

In the United States, triple combination antiretroviral therapy introduced in 1996 has led to a 70% decline in HIV- and AIDS-related deaths. The same dramatic effects have been documented in developing countries where patients with HIV and AIDS have access to antiretroviral therapy. In Brazil, AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 73% since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy. The new guidelines were developed with input from 120 scientists, researchers, and clinicians, as well representatives from more than 60 countries, including people living with HIV and AIDS.

3 Million HIV/AIDS Sufferers Could Receive Anti-retroviral Therapy by 2005. New Hope for Those in Developing World. (news release, Barcelona, Spain: World Health Organization, July 9, 2002) http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/who58/en (accessed 2 August 2002).