Strategy Aims to Reverse Transmission Rates in High-Risk Communities
HIV Treatment as Prevention (TasP) is an evidence-based approach by which persons with an undetectable viral load are far less likely to transmit the virus to an uninfected (or untreated) partner.
While TasP was initially seen as an advocacy tool when first introduced in 2006 (by Dr. Julio Montaner of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS), it was only in 2010 that evidence from the HTPN 052 Trial suggested that it could be implemented as a public health measure to reduce transmission rates from a population-based perspective.
The HTPN 052 Trial As “Game Changer”
The HTPN 052 Trial-which studied the impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on transmission rates in serodiscordant, heterosexual couples-was stopped nearly four years early when it was shown that participants on ART were 96% less likely to infect their partners than participants who weren’t.
The definitive results of the trial led many to speculate whether TasP might slow-if not altogether stop-the spread of HIV by reducing the so-called “community viral load.” In theory, by reducing the average viral load within an entire infected population, transmission would eventually become so rare as to stop the epidemic in its tracks.