The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today that it will be awarding $339 million to state Health Departments for HIV prevention services (along with new treatment guidelines). This is all part of a new five year effort on behalf of the CDC to provide funds to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. In light of the data from the HIV treatment as prevention clinical trial (HTPN 052) published last year, this new approach seems like a good approach to reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the US.
HTPN052 was the clinical trial run by Dr. Myron Cohen at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In this trial, researchers examined if HIV/AIDS treatment, called anti-retroviral therapy, given when patients were in the early stages -- while they were infected with HIV but had yet to develop AIDS -- could reduce the transmission of disease to uninfected partners better than if treatment were delayed until AIDS had fully developed. In other words, could current HIV/AIDS treatments be given earlier as a preventative agent to stop the spread of the virus to uninfected partners. Results from this clinical trial were stunning. (So stunning that these results earned this clinical trial the distinction of being named the Breakthrough of the Year! by Science Magazine). Researchers detected a 40% decrease in infection rate when the drug was given as a preventative manner. Although some issues regarding distribution and cost of these drugs still exist, these results could mark the turning point in HIV/AIDS infection rates.
For more information, visit:
the CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/HDFundingPressRelease.html
or information about the Breakthroughs of the Year by Science Magazine
http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2011/1222sp_boy.shtml
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