TY - JOUR
T1 - Global response to HIV: treatment as prevention, or treatment for treatment?
T2 - Treatment as prevention, or treatment for treatment?
AU - Sigaloff, Kim C. E.
AU - Lange, Joep M. A.
AU - Montaner, Julio
PY - 2014/7/1
Y1 - 2014/7/1
N2 - The concept of "treatment as prevention" has emerged as a means to curb the global HIV epidemic. There is, however, still ongoing debate about the evidence on when to start antiretroviral therapy in resource-poor settings. Critics have brought forward multiple arguments against a "test and treat" approach, including the potential burden of such a strategy on weak health systems and a presumed lack of scientific support for individual patient benefit of early treatment initiation. In this article, we highlight the societal and individual advantages of treatment as prevention in resource-poor settings. We argue that the available evidence renders the discussion on when to start antiretroviral therapy unnecessary and that, instead, efforts should be aimed at offering treatment as soon as possible
AB - The concept of "treatment as prevention" has emerged as a means to curb the global HIV epidemic. There is, however, still ongoing debate about the evidence on when to start antiretroviral therapy in resource-poor settings. Critics have brought forward multiple arguments against a "test and treat" approach, including the potential burden of such a strategy on weak health systems and a presumed lack of scientific support for individual patient benefit of early treatment initiation. In this article, we highlight the societal and individual advantages of treatment as prevention in resource-poor settings. We argue that the available evidence renders the discussion on when to start antiretroviral therapy unnecessary and that, instead, efforts should be aimed at offering treatment as soon as possible
KW - HIV-1
KW - antiretroviral therapy
KW - resource-limited settings
KW - treatment as prevention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904815407&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciu267
DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciu267
M3 - Article
C2 - 24926037
SN - 1058-4838
VL - 59
SP - S7-S11
JO - Clinical Infectious Diseases
JF - Clinical Infectious Diseases
IS - Suppl. 1
ER -