Experts are calling for a change on the approach in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) treatment last Sunday, suggesting that immediate treatment should be given to people with HIV instead of waiting for the signs to appear.
This move was announced during a global meeting of scientists and officials in the International AIDS Society conference, held in Vancouver, Canada, CBC News reported. The gathering started last Sunday and will run until Wednesday.
According to Julio Montaner, director of the British Columbia Center for Excellence in HIV-AIDS, science has established that treating HIV patients early on can save their lives.
Over 6,000 global experts are present at the conference and Montaner said that all of them should preach the same message to pressure global leaders to support treatments.
A new research showing that immediate treatment of HIV prevents the spread of the infection will also be presented during the conference, as reported in New Vision.
A statement from the Vancouver Consensus endorsed by HIV/AIDS experts described how preventive therapy can be effective in protecting "people at risk of infection through prophylactic use."
Furthermore, the signed statement also said that giving immediate antiretroviral therapy can increase patients' odds of surviving and staying healthy.
The last gathering of AIDS experts happened in 1996 in Vancouver where a breakthrough research showed that triple-combination treatment worked for the disease.
This meant that HIV was no longer considered as a death sentence, because it became possible for a patient to continue living a normal life while receiving treatment.
There are approximately 15 million people who are taking antiretroviral treatment all over the world; since 2000, there have already been eight million deaths prevented by "global activism, political will and science," stated the Vancouver Consensus.
It is high time to reach out to 60 percent of HIV patients who are not receiving treatment, including the 19 million individuals who are yet to find out their health status.
