Nye retningslinjer for tidligere behandling med livsforlængende medicin mod den farlige hiv-smitte, der kan føre til aids i udbrud, vil føre til store fremskridt, men også koste ekstra penge, siger FNs Sundhedsorganisation (WHO).
The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending that patients start taking medication at a much earlier stage of the disease, BBC online reports Sunday.
The WHO says the new guidelines for HIV treatment, which are being launched at an international Aids conference in Kuala Lumpur, could help avert an extra three million Aids deaths by 2025 by making sure that more people in developing countries get life-saving medicine.
The charity MSF (Læger uden Grænser) welcomed the move – but said extra investment would be needed.
A single pill combining three drugs will be given to people who are HIV positive much earlier, while their immune systems are still strong. Algeria, Argentina and Brazil are already doing this.
Not everybody who needs the medicine currently receives it, although big strides have been made in recent years in widening access to HIV treatment.
The WHO says these guidelines represent a “major shift” in policy, and will result in the number of people in developing countries who are eligible for drug treatment rising from 16 million to 26 million, or 80 per cent of the total who are thought to have HIV.
It is thought the guidelines will add 10 per cent to the 23 billion US dollar overall cost of treating HIV/AIDS in developing countries.
