MSF Applauds New WHO Recommendations for Accelerating HIV Treatment in Developing Countries

Myanmar 2012 © Ron Haviv/VII Photo An HIV-positive child receives treatment at an MSF TB/HIV clinic. KUALA LUMPUR/NEW YORK, JUNE 30, 2013—The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) today welcomed new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for HIV treatment and called for the improvements to be rapidly implemented, enabling people and programs in developing countries to benefit. MSF also stressed that increased international support will be needed. New WHO recommendations include earlier antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV, improved protocols to prevent HIV from being transmitted from mother to child, and regular and more effective monitoring of the amount of virus in people’s blood—known as ‘viral load’—to ensure treatment is working. “Early HIV treatment makes a major difference—it keeps people healthier and also helps prevent the virus from spreading within communities, but we need the political and financial support to see these recommendations rolled out rapidly,” said Dr. Unni Karunakara, International President of MSF. Use of ‘viral load’ monitoring to ensure antiretroviral medicines are keeping the virus suppressed is a critical advance in the recommendations. Viral load works best when patients receive support to remain adherent to their medicines, and shows multiple benefits for patie...
Source: MSF News - Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news