HIV/AIDS can be beaten. The world knows how to stop the spread, and treat those with AIDS so they can live for twenty or more years. In the UK, both prevention and treatment programmes have adequate government funding which has effectively controlled the spread of the virus. This is possible in the developing world too.
Treatment: what’s needed? 8
There is no cure for AIDS. However, there are medicines which can not only treat the opportunistic infections that kill sufferers, but which can slow down and even reverse the effects of the virus itself.
Opportunistic infections
Drugs to treat TB, pneumonia, wasting and other opportunistic infections which affect those with AIDS are readily available in the rich world, as are drugs to prevent some of them developing.
Pain relief and nutrition
People with HIV/AIDS need special care and treatment. Crucial is simple pain and symptom relief which we would take for granted, such as aspirin and anti-nausea drugs. They also need access to vitamins and a good diet.
Anti-retrovirals
Anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs have a dramatic impact on the life expectancy and health of people with AIDS. People dying from opportunistic infections can, after being put on ARVs, see the effects reversed and be back at work or caring for their families.
ARVs come in a variety of forms from different manufacturers. Extending a personīs healthy and productive life for up to twenty years, they attack the HIV virus itself, lessening its impact.
They are usually given to people once they are showing symptoms of AIDS rather than those who are in the early stages of HIV infection. If given in a short course to infected mothers during childbirth, ARVs halve the risk of passing the virus on to the child.
(8) See Avert for more information on ‘What is AIDS?’
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