A response to IRIN/PlusNews list of six potholes in the road to significantly increasing HIV treatment coverage in Africa.
1. Cost:
The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has estimated that US$ 28 billion to US$ 50 billion would be needed globally every year from 2010 to 2015 in order to progressively reach universal access targets for HIV/AIDS by 2015. One-third of this will contribute towards the cost of the drugs.
The figure may sound “staggering” but it needs to be put in perspective with a few other figures such as:

The cost of …

HAART for HIV Prevention, an Overview
(reproduced with permission)

Despite the interesting results of an HIV vaccine trial in Thailand (RV144), HIV prevention is still limited to a small number of options many of which are not bullet-proof. Biomedical interventions based on vaccines and microbicides are still a long shot away. Conversely, treatment is working well in bringing HIV-infected people back to a normal life and potentially reducing the risk of HIV transmission by reducing their viral load. The use of antiretroviral drugs as a means …

Yesterday’s posting may have fooled some (I hope not so) but nevertheless contained some truths that would not  surprise many of those working in the field. Later that day, Bloomberg published an interesting piece about Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and the forthcoming results of several clinical trials testing the approach.
On the outcomes of PrEP and expectated financial returns for the Pharmaceutical industry, Simeon Bennett and Tom Randall quoted Boston-based Josh Schimmer, an analyst at Leerink Swann & Co saying that “The approach may help curb the AIDS pandemic in poor …

Scientists from the Montjoie Institute of Research in Calgary have announced today that after years of secretive research they have finally identified a cure for HIV. “This is a giant step for science and mankind” announced Dr John Vago, leader of the HIV/AIDS research group at the Institute. “It was so simple that for a long time we could not believe it”.
Indeed, it took 25 years to a team of 50 researchers to come with a simple answer, the cure for HIV is no more than… A glass of water! …

Just before “Treatment as Prevention” hit the headlines with some controversy, PrEP or Pre Exposure Prophylaxis, was on everybody’s lips.

PrEP is an experimental approach that would use antiretroviral medications (ARVs, which are normally used to treat people living with HIV) to reduce the risk of HIV infection in HIV-negative people. In this intervention, HIV-negative people would take a single drug or a combination of drugs with the hope that it would lower their risk of infection if exposed to HIV. PrEP trials are ongoing around the world. (Source: AVAC)

Whilst some …