Researchers estimate lives lost due to delay in antiretroviral drug use for HIV/AIDS in So...( Boston MA More than 330000 lives we...),Health
Boston, MA More than 330,000 lives were lost to HIV/AIDS in South Africa from 2000 and 2005 because a feasible and timely antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program was not implemented, assert researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in a study published online by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) (http://www.jaids.com/). In addition, an estimated 35,000 babies were born with HIV during that same period in the country because a feasible mother-to-child transmission prophylaxis program using nevirapine (an anti-AIDS drug) was not implemented, the authors write.
The paper estimates the consequences of the HIV/AIDS policies followed by the South African government for a five-year period when neighboring countries ramped up their HIV-prevention programs. The paper may have broader implications for the evaluation of consequences of public health programs.
Dr. Pride Chigwedere, MD, SD, lead author of the paper, and colleagues estimated what they described as the ARV benefits lost that were attributable to government policies restricting or delaying the use of ARV treatment in South Africa. For comparison, the authors used Botswana and Namibia, neighboring countries facing epidemics of similar scale and dynamics and with similar resources per capita. Dr. Chigwedere led the analysis while earning his doctoral degree in immunology and infectious diseases from HSPH, graduating in June 2008. He came to HSPH from Zimbabwe, where he was a practicing physician treating AIDS patients.
South Africa is one of the countries most severely affected by the AIDS epidemic. The authors cite UNAIDS data that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the adult population is 18.8 percent, with approximately 5.5 million persons infected with HIV. Under the leadership of Thabo Mbeki, who was president of South Africa during the period examined in the paper, the government restricted use o
'/>"/>
| Contact: Christina Roache croache@hsph.harvard.edu 617-432-6052 Harvard School of Public Health Source:Eurekalert |
Related medicine news :
1. Georgetown University Med Center reproductive health researchers tackle public health concerns
2. Stem-cell sentry sounds the alarm to maintain balance between cancer and aging, U-M researchers find
3. Steroids aid recovery from pneumonia, UT Southwestern researchers say
4. Researchers Create Embryonic-Like Stem Cells From Human Testes
5. UT researchers to study massive transfusion at major trauma centers
6. Duke researchers show reading can help obese kids lose weight
7. Researchers use nanoparticles to deliver treatment for brain, spinal cord injuries
8. Researchers create first model for retina receptors
9. Researchers Report Stem Cell Advance
10. ALS Patients and Researchers Unite in Boston for 4th Annual Leadership Summit
11. OHSU Cancer Institute researchers study breathing during radiation
| Copyright © 2003-2009 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |