Canada Fails to Embrace Its Own HIV/AIDS Treatment Model

The United Nations has approved a made-in-Canada approach to handle the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, the approach is yet to gain the support of the Canadian government. Health Canada says it’s considering changing its HIV screening and treatment guidelines in light of new evidence. But the government won’t say when it will make that decision.

Montaner Montaner, director of the B.C. Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS is a pioneer of the ‘treatment as prevention’ form of attacking HIV.

It’s predicated on the idea of giving highly active antiretroviral therapy to everyone infected with HIV, even if they aren’t showing signs of illness yet. It also advocates giving similar treatment to people deemed to be at high risk of contracting HIV.

When the World Health Organization used that model in its updated guidelines for HIV treatment this week, it added at least 9 million HIV-positive people to the population of those in need of highly active antiretrovirals, and many more to the group of at-risk people needing treatment.



Source-Medindia