CONDOMS AND COCKTAILSDuring the course of the AIDS epidemic unprecedented scientific advancements have been made. The first major medical breakthrough occurred in 1986 with the arrival of the antiretroviral, AZT. But eventually, AZT was found to have a limited effectiveness. More successful treatments, however, (guarding against opportunistic infections common among AIDS patients, such as pneumocystis pneumonia) were gradually developed and released. And with encouraging results. But it was the advent of combination therapy in 1996 that really began to have a visible effect on rates of death and illness amongst HIV positive people. | |
| As the effects of the combination drugs gradually began to kick in, the number of UK AIDS cases decreased dramatically. Since 1994, when AIDS cases hit a peak with 1,840 diagnosis, new cases of AIDS fell by 70 percent, dropping to 597 in 1999. |
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But while the instances of AIDS may have fallen, along with mortality rates
(a recent report showed that AIDS death rates in Europe had fallen by 80 percent),
the rates of HIV infection have continued to increase.
There are, on average, 2,500 new diagnosis of HIV in the UK every year - that's equivalent to seven cases a day. Of all new cases, 60 percent are among gay men. And studies indicate that unsafe sex is, worryingly, on the increase. Recent years have seen an explosion of STDs (UK cases of gonorrhoea rose by 30 percent last year). Another study shows that there is a general misunderstanding about HIV drugs. | |
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A survey by the Health Education Authority found that one in six young people
(16-24) believe that HIV treatments can stop the virus being transmitted.
Meanwhile, a MORI poll for the Terence Higgins Trust published in April last year,
showed that
20 percent of people thought there was now a cure for AIDS.
But there is no cure. And combination therapy is far from being an AIDS elixir. The regimen is rigid. It involves necking up to 15 pills a day at precise intervals. |
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For the treatment to be effective, patients must be 100 percent compliant.
Even missing just a couple of doses a month can provide the forever varying HIV virus
with a window in which to multiply and mutate.
In addition, there are various unpleasant side effects that accompany combination therapy. These range from short-term side effects (nausea, diarrhoea, fatigue, skin rashes and lypodystrophy - a misplacement of body fat) to longer-term damage (kidney and heart failure). For some, the drugs are simply too toxic to tolerate. While for many positive people the drugs have unarguably lengthened life spans by postponing progression toward AIDS, how long that resistance against the disease can be maintained is unclear. | |
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Once the HIV virus has built up a resistance to a particular
drug, that avenue of combination treatment becomes a cul-de-sac. Already, many patients
have exhausted the supply of drugs currently available. This has left them with little,
or nothing left to take. However, hope is forever on the horizon. Scientists in London (and around the world) are currently working on developing a combination of immunotherapy drugs and anti-HIV drugs. It's hoped that these chemical cocktails will further reduce the risk of developing AIDS. But until then, the waiting game continues. And in the absence of a vaccine, prevention remains the best medicine. |
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See OutReach for a full listing of HIV and AIDS resources and advice organisations |
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