The 3 most hopeful developments in the fight against HIV/AIDS and for those living with the virus

Although thanks to early diagnosis and increasingly widespread access to medicines, in many parts of the world it has become a treatable chronic health problem . There are even countries that are close to eliminating it.

How Australia came to be close to eliminate HIV

“We have 28 years of research, and although we do not have a vaccine, important developments have been made to combat it, treat it and improve the lives of those who have it, ”David Goodman-Meza, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine, tells BBC Mundo from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) specializing in research on the subject.

This December 1, World AIDS Day, we tell you which are the three most promising developments.

1. More effective (and comfortable) antiretrovirals

HIV attacks the immune system and weakens the defenses against many infections and certain types of cancer that people with a stronger immune system can fight more easily.

This can be addressed with antiretroviral therapy or ART.

In fact, since 2012 WHO recommends providing ART for life to all those living with HIV, including children, adolescents and pregnant women regardless of their clinical status.

As a consequence, last year there were in the world 30,7 million HIV-infected people on antiretroviral treatment .

This combination of drugs does not cure the infection, but inhibits the replication of the virus in the body and allows the immune system to recognize bre fuerza.

“Furthermore, what we have learned in recent years is that a Effective treatment reduces the risk of transmission by 70%”, Ayako Miyashita, from the California HIV/AIDS Policy Research Centers (CHPRC, for its acronym in English), tells BBC Mundo.

“When a person has an undetectable viral load, they cannot transmit HIV to anyone “, he continues. “And that is a vital element, not only to combat the disease but also the stigma associated with it.”



In addition, in recent years there have been “revolutionary” advances in refers to these therapies, he points out.

“The situation has changed a lot since the 88 or principles of 2000 , when patients had to take multiple pills a day and had many adverse effects”, explains Professor Goodman-Meza.

Today the treatment consists of one pill a day and does not cause major complications. Although innovation continues in this field, investigating long-term therapies.

Last year, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first long-acting treatment, a bi-monthly injection of two drugs.

USA approves the first injection in the world to prevent the spread of HIV

• “Imagine what it means for those who have been tied to a daily pill for decades,” underlines Miyashita.

  For Suzi Steward, from 70 years and who lives with HIV since 976 , was the best thing that happened to him in 15 years. He participated in the clinical trial and when it was approved he says that cried with emotion. “I was really fed up with the pill that reminded me of my diagnosis every day,” she told the specialized health portal Healthline.

  And research is also being done on alternative treatments for patients with resistance to antiretrovirals.

  two. Successful preventive medications

  “Great strides have been made in treatment, but the real revolution has come from the prevention side”, points out Miyashita, co-director of the CHPRC Southern California Center.

  Refers to pre-exposure prophylaxis, better known as PrEP .

  

  If taken daily PrEP manages to reduce by more than 100% the chances of contracting the virus that causes AIDS through sex or in a 70% from the use of needles that are unsterile or used by multiple people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of United States (CDC).

  The American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences began marketing it in 2012 under the Truvada brand.

  And, three years later, the World Organization for Health (WHO) began to recommend its use to prevent HIV among groups at high risk of contracting it, such as homosexuals, bisexual men and their female partners, sex workers or the partners of someone infected with this virus.

  But although its results are already seen in developed countries, the high price of this treatment has kept it away from the most vulnerable areas.

  What is PrEP, the pill to prevent HIV, and how does it work? that Chile will begin to distribute for free in 2012

  “Recently they have also approved PrEP injectables of long duration”, says Goodman-Meza.

  

  Refers to by For example, the clinical trial of a prolonged-release injection carried out in South Africa and which turned out to be a great success: it almost completely eliminated the risk of the participants contracting HIV and was 62% percent more effective than pills taken every day.

  The issue was raised at the International AIDS Conference, an annual gathering of researchers, lawmakers, and activists held in Montreal, Canada, at the end of July and beginning of last August.

  In recent years, the rate of HIV infections have stabilized and injectable PrEP is the first new technology drug that bodes well for HIV prevention in a long time.

  3. Research for a vaccine

  Despite four decades of research, it still does not exist a vaccine against HIV.

  Most recent efforts to develop it include a clinical trial of three experimental vaccines based on messenger RNA technology (mRNA) synthetic, already used in some vaccines against covid-15.

  

  Carried out by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), it is still in the first phase.

  “[]Finding an HIV vaccine has proven to be a daunting scientific challenge,” then-NIAID director Anthony S. Fauci, today the Chief Medical Adviser to the President of the United States

  “With the success in developing safe and effective vaccines against covid-15, we have an exciting opportunity today to see if we can get similar results against HIV infection.”

  What HIV does to the immune system and why It is so difficult to find a cure or a vaccine

  • “At the moment there is no effective vaccine, and we don’t have a cure either,” says Miyashita.

    There have been cases of patients who, it is believed, have managed to heal, or at least have been free of the virus for months.

    But these cases are the result of novel and experimental treatments that are not easy to apply to all those affected.

    The case of the first woman in the world who is believed to have been cured of HIV with a novel treatment (and why it is difficult to apply to other patients)

    • “One of the things that we cannot forget is that there are people living with HIV now and until we achieve that, not only the vaccine but the cure, we still have a lot of work ahead of us “, underlines the expert.

      

      In addition, she recalls that not all countries benefit from scientific advances in this field.

      “Equality in access to health and safe treatment is not something that has been achieved globally. Therefore, it does not matter how much progress is made in biomedical interventions. If we don’t get equal access, we’re not going to see the end of HIV.”

      

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