Sunday, July 24, 2011

HIV "One Pill a Day " Prevent HIV Infection - VOA



Photo: AP
Two new studies done in Africa show that antiretroviral drugs can prevent people from being infected with the AIDS virus, HIV.
The findings in Kenya, Uganda and Botswana show that if HIV-negative people take one pill daily, they can reduce their risk of infection by up to
73 percent. It’s called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The studies were done on couples in which one partner was infected and the other was not.
The findings are “significant on several levels,” said Dr. Cate Hankins, chief scientific advisor to UNAIDS.
“We had an indication that this would work from the iPrEX trial that reported in November about the use of antiretrovirals among men who have sex with men. And that trial found a 44 percent reduction in risk for men who took this combination tablet. That’s tenofovir / emtricitabine once daily,” she said.
That was followed by the FemPrEP study on whether the regimen would work on women. But the study was stopped early when researchers concluded it appeared not to provide women with the same benefits.
“These two trials reporting today firmly show that this does work for women and show for the first time that this works for heterosexual men,” Hankins said.
Another option
“We now have an additional tool in the toolbox for HIV prevention. So we have treatment for prevention, which was announced in May, where a person who has HIV infection starts on treatment early and is less likely to transmit,” she said. “Now we have antiretroviral prevention, where an HIV-negative person can take a drug on a daily basis and not get HIV infection or have a reduced risk of HIV infection.”
There is also the tenofovir gel, a microbicide, shown to be effective in preventing HIV infection for women when used before having sex. The CAPRISA 004 microbicide trial was done in South Africa. Follow-up studies are planned. Other prevention methods include male circumcision, using condoms, having fewer sexual partners, delaying sex and avoiding penetrative sex.
30 Years on
Thirty years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Hankins said, “I think we’re in a whole different era. And I think we really do have a chance to make this a tipping point and to reach the goals that we’re pushing towards.”
At June’s U.N. High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, countries set a goal of reducing sexual transmission by 50 percent by 2015.
“Now 2015’s not that far away,” said Hankins. “But with these new tools to add to what we already have, we have a good chance of being able to reach that 2015 goal.”
Why Africa?
Conducting the studies in three African countries affords researchers some benefits.
“I think it’s very important. These are areas with high incidence. It makes it much more efficient to do a study in a place that has high incidence to get an answer earlier,” she said.
These countries are now expected to help with rollout studies to answer questions about how best to administer the drugs in real life settings. The findings will help UNAIDS and the World Health Organization set guidelines.
Until then, low and middle income countries will probably delay implementing the new prevention method. Insurance companies in developed nations are also expected to wait for the guidance before providing coverage.
“I think we’re going to see a very rapid move now to look at the data in depth. So I doubt very much if it’s going to be available tomorrow anywhere, but it’s hopeful that new guidance could come out by the beginning of 2012,” said the UNAIDS chief scientific advisor.
Cost
The cost of the combination pill can vary from country to country. In some places it may be 25 cents a day as a generic. In other countries, it may cost considerably more.
“The company that makes that pill, Gilead, has stepped forward just this week to become the first company to join the patent pools program, which will bring down prices of drugs. So we’re hopeful that this can become a financially feasible new prevention modality,” said Hankins.
UNAIDS estimated that only half of the 33 million people living with HIV know their HIV status. The agency called for a significant increase in testing so people can take advantage of new prevention and treatment programs and reduce the spread of HIV.

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Friday, July 15, 2011

5 Million At Risk Of Cholera In Ethiopia: WHO


Five million people are at risk of cholera in drought-hit Ethiopia, where acute watery diarrhea has broken out in crowded, unsanitary conditions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

5 Milli

Cholera Ethiopia
Cholera, an acute intestinal infection, causes watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given, according to the United Nations agency.
"Overall, 8.8 million people are at risk of malaria and 5 million of cholera (in Ethiopia)," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in a note sent to journalists.
Ethiopian health officials have confirmed cases of acute watery diarrhea in the Somali, Afar and Oromiya regions of Ethiopia, he told Reuters. "It is not confined to the refugees."
WHO is delivering emergency health kits to Ethiopia and helping train health workers in treating malnutrition and in detecting disease outbreaks, he said.
Drought across the Horn of Africa, now affecting more than 11 million people in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya and Somalia, has increased the risk of the spread of infectious diseases, especially polio, cholera and measles, the WHO says.
"So far WHO has not received any report of polio cases, it really important to help countries to keep their polio-free status," Jasarevic said.
Somalis fleeing severe drought and intensified fighting have been arriving at the rate of more than 1,700 a day in Ethiopia, where 4.5 million people now need assistance, nearly a 50 percent rise since April, he said.
MEASLES RISK
Two million children in Ethiopia are at risk of catching measles, a disease that can be deadly in children, he said.
Ethiopian officials reported 17,584 measles cases and 114 deaths during the first half of the year, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado said. The majority of cases were in children.
Measles has also broken out in the sprawling Kenyan Dadaab camps, with 462 cases confirmed including 11 deaths, Jasarevic said.
Dadaab, an overcrowded complex of three camps, now holds some 440,000 refugees, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday.
UNHCR plans to begin a massive airlift this weekend to bring tents and other aid supplies to the remote border region, spokesman Adrian Edwards told a news briefing.
A Boeing 747 flight carrying 100 tonnes of tents is expected to land in Nairobi on Sunday, he said. Six further flights were planned over the next two weeks.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres welcomed an announcement by Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday that Kenya is to open an extension to the camps to ease congestion at Dadaab, where 1,300 Somali refugees arrive daily.
"It will prevent congestion increasing further in the short term. Obviously larger needs relate to the need to undertake humanitarian efforts inside Somalia itself," Edwards said.
The United Nations carried out its first airlift of emergency supplies in two years to southern Somalia -- an area controlled by al Shabaab rebels -- on Wednesday, UNICEF said.
"Ten health kits, each sufficient to treat 10,000 people over 3 months are also en route via road," Mercado said.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.