New drugs could halt spread of HIV

Encouraged by trials of drugs to prevent the spread of HIV, an Aids conference in Rome have debated how to draft recommendations and raise funds to transform the dramatic results into action.

Researchers from around the world were getting their first look at full peer-reviewed data from a trial that, said veteran campaigners, could slow the 30-year-old juggernaut of Aids.

It was carried out among 1763 couples where one partner was infected by the human immunodeficiency virus while the other was HIV-free.

When the infected partner was given an early start on HIV drugs, this slashed the risk of transmitting the virus to the other by 96% - a figure comparable to the effectiveness of a condom.

Other trials, in which the non-infected partner took the drugs, found a risk reduction of up to 73%.

Even battle-hardened veterans in the war on Aids are stunned.

Antiretroviral drugs, a lifeline to millions of infected people, are poised for a new role as a tool to prevent viral spread, they said.

"We are at an important tipping point," said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"There is an extraordinary window of opportunity and the sooner we act on it and the more robustly we act on it, the quicker we will achieve the goal of turning around the epidemic.

"Pure, simple maths tells you that the fewer people who are infected, the fewer the people who are going to get infected."

But Fauci and others said many tasks lay ahead in safely transposing a trial, which takes place in carefully controlled conditions where couples are counselled and supported, into the messy reality of daily life.