The Lancet & HIV

I have come across ‘The Lancet’ on the Imperial College London website. An Imperial-based research paper on HIV treatment published online in The Lancet  was voted a must-read research paper in 2009. The Lancet is one of the world’s most prestigious medical research magazines whose mission it is to gather and grow evidence that shows how the global medical community should combat burdens of diseases that span continents.

The bespoken research paper entitled “Routine versus clinically driven laboratory monitoring of HIV antiretroviral therapy in Africa (DART): a randomised non-inferiority trial”, showed how thousands more people in Africa could be treated for HIV if routine lab tests which are very expensive were reduced to clinically necessary cases or even abandoned. The study was related to the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), involving approximately 3,000 Africans in remote areas who had not had ART before. ART is basically necessary to keep the HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) at a low level, which keeps the immune system from further weakening. Ultimately, patient live with HIV without AIDS really breaking through. (Source of image: Wikipedia.org)

The study found that ART can be delivered effectively without routine laboratory tests on toxic effects. Saving costs on expensive tests would free money for more actual ART treatments, reaching more patients. The DART study was funded by the UK Medical Research Council, the Rockefeller Foundation and the UK Department for International Development, and officials in politics and health organisation now hope that existing HIV policies and programmes incorporate the findings of the study since it has shown how simple, but effective measures can be undertaken and delivered by health workers in even remote areas of Africa. Primary care for HIV positive patients becomes a key issue, allowing them access to ART.