HOPE IN HAART

HAART therapy used in preventing the spread of new infections seems to be working in HIV+ individuals:


A new study conducted in British Columbia has found that the infection rate in the province has been halved since 1996 by the widespread adoption of HAART, researchers reported online Sunday in the journal Lancet and at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. For every 100 new patients treated, the infection rate went down 3%, Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, reported. "This study strengthens the evidence that maximizing HAART coverage within current medical guidelines will help to curb the spread of HIV," Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a statement. The agency funded the study. "These findings are especially important since new HIV cases have remained stubbornly steady in the United States at a rate of about 56,000 per year for the past 10 years." British Columbia is a good place for such a study because it is relatively small — population about 4,420,00 — and everyone in the province receives free medical care.

via latimes


As a side note: Regardless of the progression of the disease, the San Francisco Health Department recommends all HIV+ individuals start on HAART therapy as soon as they find out about being positive.