Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
|
|
Wall Street Journal - August 12, 2006
Marilyn Chase, marilyn.chase@wsj.com
There will be plenty of sizzle: Singer Alicia Keys will rock the house for the 24,000 scientists and activists on hand, and Bill Clinton and Bill Gates will make a joint plea for world leaders to work toward ending the epidemic and delivering AIDS drugs to those among the 40 million HIV-infected people world-wide who need them. But there is little evidence that goal is within reach, even in the 13,000 papers on HIV/AIDS due to be released in conjunction with the conference.
Money for treatment remains chronically short, a much-discussed vaccine remains a dream, and more than four million new infections a year suggest the wily virus will continue to outpace the global response for some time. That is, barring a prevention breakthrough.
A critical mass of prevention studies is finally gaining momentum, with a range of pills, gels, vaginal rings and other strategies now in field tests. Studies to be presented in Toronto may suggest whether new medical interventions can supplement behavior change and safer sex which, like a diet, are subject to whims of human will power. U.S. funding agencies continue to emphasize abstinence and fidelity as ideals in HIV-prevention programs that also include condoms. But public-health advocates note that women trapped in the sex industry and children hooked on 10-cent heroin in Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle may be unable to choose a healthful lifestyle.
So that leaves people hungry for news of pills and devices. Prevention-pill research -- known as PREP for "pre-exposure prophylaxis" -- is one major focus of hope. Researchers are now testing Gilead Sciences Inc.'s AIDS treatment Viread (tenofovir) and a related combination pill, Truvada, in a new role as potential preventive drugs to protect people at high risk of contracting HIV. Activists await data from a test in Ghana on whether the pill is safe for healthy people and, later on, whether it actually works to keep such people from being infected.
For those already infected with HIV, everyone wants a new drug. Millions of underserved patients are seeking medicines, and the Group of Eight leading nations has endorsed the distant goal of universal access. New patients seek simpler and more-tolerable regimens. Longtime patients with mutated and drug-resistant HIV are employing "salvage regimens" until arrival of potent new products like integrase inhibitors from Merck & Co. and others, and CCR5 blockers from Pfizer Inc. and others. New drugs will offer doctors a chance to concoct fresh, potent antiviral cocktails to beat the beast of HIV back into submission ... until HIV learns to mutate anew.
Toronto attendees may hear discussions on vaccine-research strategy but won't hear too much in the way of scientific breakthroughs on a vaccine, the other main area of hope, which will be the focus of a separate conference later this month in Amsterdam.
060812
WJ060802
Copyright © 2006 - The Wall Street Journal. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the WSJ Permissions Desk.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Boehringer Ingelheim, Bridgestone/Firestone Charitable Trust, Elton John AIDS Foundation UK, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Walk of Orange County, and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 2006. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .