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HIV/AIDS: The stories and trends behind the science

Published 16 July 2010

 

Despite the growing evidence that rapid scale up of HIV/AIDS treatment reduces unnecessary death, staves off disease, and reduces transmission of the virus, international donors are wavering and sending the message to scale back treatment plans.

On July 15, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) held a media teleconference on the key issues that will be discussed at the XVIII International AIDS Conference (IAC) in Vienna this month, presenting some of the findings from MSF field projects. These include:

• How starting HIV treatment earlier has dramatically reduced mortality and boosted treatment success, clearly supporting the benefits of pursuing an aggressive international response to the AIDS pandemic

• How using medicines, which for the moment are more expensive but cause fewer side effects, would actually reduce costs in the long-run and mean an end to the second-class care patients in the developing world currently receive

• How newer medicines can become more affordable and an explosion in drug costs can be staved off

Yet as donors retreat from funding AIDS, progress threatens to be stopped dead in its tracks. MSF already sees the consequences of donors backtracking on commitments to fund expanded HIV treatment worldwide. MSF is launching its report: The Ten Consequences of AIDS Treatment Delayed, Deferred, or Denied – a guide to the devastation that can be expected if the trend continues.

"We're at a fork in the road: either governments summon the political will and financial resources to treat AIDS in developing countries, or current funding for AIDS treatment stagnates, which means patients will see their treatment delayed, deferred and denied,” says Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of the MSF Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. “It's a question of choice: if they don't help us treat AIDS, there will be more graves."

Related News:

 HIV/AIDS: Donors gambling with patients’ lives by retreating from funding  - 19-07-10 13:53

 HIV/AIDS: Donor retreat widens treatment gap in Africa - 27-05-10 00:00

 "Top Ten" Humanitarian Crises: Aid blocked and diseases neglected - 21-12-09 16:04

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