World News

Compiled by Martin Flynn

‘3 by 5’ treatments target reached in 07

The aim by UNAIDS to get 3 million people in need of HIV antiretrovirals onto therapy by the end of 2005 was eventually achieved by the end of 2007, the agency announced in June.

But only 30 per cent of people in need of HIV treatments in developing countries now have access to life saving therapies.

But they admitted they are two years behind in their target to get universal antiretroviral therapy (ART) by 2010.

With an estimated 33 million people living worldwide with the virus, and 2.5 million new infections each year, an estimated 6.7 million people with HIV who need treatments are still not getting them.
And whilst the situation is improving, the report said that a recent survey showed that just 20 per cent of people globally are aware they have the virus.
“The answer to the HIV epidemic is preventing new infections,” said the WHO’s Dr Kevin de Cock. “An additional one million people came onto therapy last year but another 2.5 million people became newly infected with HIV, so we have to do better with prevention.”
Newer prevention strategies, including heterosexual male circumcision and the reduction in the number of sexual partners, are being touted as a solution to the HIV prevention nightmare but few scientists see them having anything but marginal effect.
A reduction in ART drug costs has been one major reason for better access
to treatments.
The prices have gone down by as much as 60 per cent in developing countries in the last 3 years, led not least by price pressure from generic drug manufacturers.
Prices for first line therapies in developing countries have dropped to $300 per patient per year, compared with $10,000 per patient per year in the west.
And for second line therapies, including protease inhibitors, the price per patient per year is now as low as $1000 in developing countries compared with over $10,000 in rich western countries.
The report also emphasises the high morbidity and mortality rates among people with HIV in poorer countries and highlights the fact that many are diagnosed too late and at such an advanced stage for any treatments to be effective.
The lack of healthcare infrastructure remains a major barrier to improving the health of millions living with HIV, as does the shortage of health care workers, the
report said.
The so-called ‘Brain Drain’ is also a major problem for many African countries whose healthcare workers are often attracted by much higher potential salaries in the west.
“Treatment doesn’t close down the epidemic,” Dr de Cock said, “More investment in prevention is needed while scaling
up treatment.”
But whilst world religions vehemently oppose the use of condoms and cultural traditions in much of the world disempower most women in sexual relationships, the outlook for improved HIV prevention
remains bleak.
www.unaids.org

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