(Vancouver) – Anti-HIV medications are reaching more HIV patients across the province, according to the Centre’s 2006-2007 Drug Treatment Program annual report.
Between April 2006 and March 2007, 4,392 people were receiving antiretrovirals or other anti-HIV medications through the Centre’s drug treatment program — an increase of 327 people compared to the previous year.
Any increase in uptake of clinical care among those eligible is welcome news,” says Centre director Dr. Julio Montaner.”However, we need to do more. There is a huge shortfall of those needing life-saving treatment who are not accessing it.”
The Centre’s drug treatment program distributes anti-HIV drugs to HIV-infected persons throughout the province at no cost.
According the annual report, nearly 60% of all patients receiving anti-HIV drugs through the program reside in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority; 85% of recipients are male.
The nature of the medications is also changing, says Linda Akagi, coordinator of the Centre’s Outreach Pharmacy Program at St. Paul’s Hospital.
“There’s been a trend toward simplifying therapy,” Akagi says.”Industry is reducing pill count and the number of times a patient has to take medication, to make initiating therapy easier.”
Growing numbers of HIV patients beginning therapy, such as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is a critical step forward in stemming the spread of HIV, according to a Centre study published in The Lancet.
The 2006 study built a theoretical, population-based model to highlight HAART not only as a means of improving patient outcomes, but also as a method for reducing the number of people who become infected. According to the model, HIV prevalence could hypothetically, over 45-year period, be reduced by more than 70-fold. The number of HIV infected people could decrease to less than one million from 40 million.
“As we increase the number of HIV patients on antiretrovirals, we have the potential to reduce rates of transmission,” Montaner says.”Improving access to HAART, locally and internationally, is the first step in slowing the global epidemic.”