WHO announces live saving drugs for all HIV patients
Q. WHO has announced that which disease will now be treated as soon as it is diagnosed with life saving drugs?- Published on 02 Oct 15a. HIV
b. Malaria
c. Typhoid
d. Encephalitis
ANSWER: HIV
For the first time, WHO has indicated that everyone with HIV will be offered life saving drugs at the time of diagnosis. WHO has indicated that governments do not have to wait till the disease progresses, which was part of the earlier procedure, to initiate Antiretroviral Therapy/ART. ART is free in India under National Aids Control Programme but treatment is not provided for every HIV patient. ART was earlier initiated depending upon the infection stage. All populations and age groups are now eligible for treatment. Recent findings indicate early use of ART keeps people living with HIV alive and more healthy with less likelihood of transmitting the virus. Based on the initial recommendation, persons eligible for antiretroviral treatment will increase to 37 million from 28 million. Change in global HIV policy could avert close to over 20 million deaths and 28 million new infections by 2030.
