Spain’s new HIV guidelines recommend expanding treatment

published on February 21, 2014

Spain has released its updated HIV guidelines and among the key recommendations is expanding treatment to all people living with HIV.

The new guidelines recommend provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to all patients with HIV to prevent its progression, lower the virus transmission, and limit harmful coexistent comorbidity effects.

Spain’s guidelines follow the BC-CfE-pioneered Treatment as Prevention strategy. Treatment as Prevention involves widespread HIV testing and immediate offer of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to people living with HIV. Treatment has been shown to virtually eliminate progression of the disease to AIDS and premature death, and simultaneously stop transmission of the virus.

Recently published research in PLOS One found the expansion of HIV treatment in B.C. has led to sustained and profound decreases in morbidity, mortality, and new cases of HIV. As a result, B.C. has seen HIV-related morbidity and mortality decline by over 90 per cent since 1995. Over the same time period, the number of new HIV diagnoses has fallen from more than 800 per year in 1995 to 238 in 2012.

The findings further demonstrate that the province’s Treatment as Prevention strategy should be applied in other settings around the world.

This week, Panama became the latest country to formally adopt the strategy. It joins China, France, and Brazil in adopting the strategy as their national HIV/AIDS policy. The strategy has also been implemented by cities across the United States, including San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

The Treatment as Prevention strategy was first endorsed by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2010. In 2012, the U.S. identified it as a key strategy to achieve an AIDS-free generation, and in July 2013, the World Health Organization fully incorporated the strategy in their new Global HIV Treatment Guidelines.

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Spain’s new HIV guidelines recommend expanding treatment

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