June 30, 2013

launch of new WHO guidelines ‘Towards 15 and Beyond: New horizons for HIV antiretroviral treatment’

New global guidelines from World Health Organization (WHO) on when to start taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV could avert an additional 3 million deaths and prevent 4 million new infections between now and 2025.

WHO experts explained why the Organization believes all countries, including the UK and other European countries, should follow the lead of those that already offer ART to people with HIV before their immune systems begin to be affected.

The changes will result in significant impact on the epidemic, beyond the 2015 Millennium Development Goals, and beyond the 15 million treatment target set for 2015. But with the highest rate of scale-up of treatment ever recorded in 2012, evidence suggests that such prospects – unthinkable just a few years ago – can now fuel the momentum needed to push the HIV epidemic into irreversible decline.

Speakers: 

Gottfried Hirnschall, Director, HIV/AIDS Department, World Health Organization

Philippa Easterbrook, Scientist, HIV/AIDS Department, World Health Organization