Some children of HIV-positive parents drop out of school to look after their mothers and fathers. Others skip class to earn cash for the family by selling goods.
The US PEPFAR initiative has brought HIV medication to millions of people globally. Behind this progress are the activists that pressured politicians and companies to put patients over patents.
When antiretroviral therapy is working effectively, HIV cannot be transmitted. This allows people with HIV to live fuller lives without the fear of infecting others.
Antiretroviral therapies for HIV, while extremely effective, need to be taken daily for life. Designing antibody treatments that need to be taken only once could improve compliance and reduce drug resistance.
Clive Aspin, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The omission of growing evidence that Māori, and Māori women in particular, have worse health outcomes after HIV infection could derail New Zealand’s elimination plans and exacerbate disparities.
Helen Ayles, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
We expected to find that screening everybody for TB would identify individuals not yet diagnosed, and treating them quickly would reduce the prevalence of TB in the community.
Unless special attention is given to conflict and HIV the war will undermine the achievement of the 2030 goals to end AIDS, discrimination, and new infections.
HIV services must be comprehensive to ensure that people take their medication as prescribed and avoid onward transmission of the virus.
Even before the advent of COVID-19, donors had begun to exit HIV programmes with increasing frequency.
It is urgent and overdue to implement PrEP in pregnancy and during breastfeeding. Failure to do so allows ongoing avoidable HIV infection among women in South Africa and their infants.
People with HIV need to take daily medication to keep the virus at bay. A study has found that a new treatment combination could boost immunity and control virus levels even after stopping medication.
Emily B. Wong, Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI)
South Africa needs a public health response that expands the successes of the country’s HIV testing and treatment programme to provide care for multiple diseases.
Not achieving the targets for children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa means that new infections will continue to increase and HIV related mortality will be a reality for decades to come.
Cryptococcal ceningitis is one of the main causes of death of people with HIV. The tests and medicines to diagnose and treat it exist but remain inaccessible to most. A global strategy is needed.
Where there are not enough health workers to deliver medical care, one solution is to move certain tasks to less specialised health workers, a process called task-shifting.
Professor of medicine and deputy director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town