WHO says 37m people should be given ARVs

01 October 2015 - 02:40 By Reuters

Everyone with HIV should be given anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) as soon as possible after diagnosis, meaning 37million people worldwide should be on treatment, the World Health Organisation said yesterday. Recent clinical trials have confirmed that early drug use extends the lives of those with the Aids-causing virus and cuts the risk of disease transmission to partners, the WHO said.The new guidelines are a central plank of the UN agency's aim to end the Aids epidemic by 2030.Doctor and health economist Gesine Meyer-Rath, who works with the Wits health economics and epidemiology research office, said giving ARVs to all HIV-positive patients would not be as expensive as some believe, but the country's health system, especially drug supply chain management, would need to be fixed first. ..

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