Important progress is being made in developing treatment and prevention technologies against HIV, experts said at a conference of the International AIDS Society (IAS), in Mexico City.
“Ultimately, the advances we are seeing in science are about giving people living with HIV more choices,” IAS President Anton Pozniak said.
Pozniac said this shortly before the closure of the conference, which brought together, 5,000 experts from 140 countries, on Wednesday.
“There is a whole lot of good news, said Juergen Rockstroh, president of the European AIDS Clinical Society.
“It is at least theoretically possible to end the HIV epidemic but that requires political solutions, he told dpa at the commencement of the conference on Sunday.
“Studies released at the conference put the spotlight on progress that could completely change the HIV prevention landscape, organisers said in a statement.“
These include, advancements in oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) delivery, long-acting implants and vaccines, including a potential implantable form of PrEP.
“A trial found that the implant, which releases the antiretroviral agent MK-8591, was well tolerated and could work for one year.
“New drugs and novel treatment regimens also have the potential to improve long-term tolerability and reduce costs and pill sizes,” Pozniak said.
Tolerability refers to the degree to which overt adverse effects of a drug can be tolerated by a patient.
At the opening of the conference, Pozniak warned against the threat that humanitarian crises pose to the treatment of HIV.
“From Syria to Venezuela, the challenge of providing HIV services in humanitarian crises threatens global progress in confronting the epidemic,” he said.
(dpa/NAN)