B.C. finds HIV testing and treatment programs save money

published on October 10, 2017 in CATIE

Initiating combination anti-HIV therapy (ART) can greatly reduce the amount of HIV in the blood (viral load). Over time, as the viral load continues to fall, in the majority of people it reaches a very low level that cannot be accurately assessed using routine laboratory tests. Such low viral load levels are commonly called “undetectable.”

Continuing to take ART every day helps to maintain an undetectable viral load. By suppressing HIV, ART allows the immune system to partially repair itself. Over the long term, all of these changes generally result in improved health. The benefits of ART are so significant that researchers increasingly expect that many ART users will have near-normal life expectancy.

There is another advantage that comes with a continuously suppressed viral load—the inability of HIV to be transmitted. Studies have found that people who initiate ART and who achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load do not pass on HIV to their sexual partners. Furthermore, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a statement confirming this.

These twin benefits of ongoing ART—treating and preventing the spread of HIV—are so tremendous that the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS) has called for regions and countries to achieve the following goals by 2020:

90% of people with HIV are aware of their infection status
90% of people diagnosed with HIV are taking ART
90% of people taking ART have an undetectable viral load

View the full article >>

Tags:

STOP HIV/AIDS

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

Search form

B.C. finds HIV testing and treatment programs save money

Search form