The treatment of HIV has been almost exclusively focused on for the past few decades, but it seems that public health experts are now planning a change in this field to focus more on preventative measures to curb the spread of disease. Recent research shows that anti-HIV drugs can help to hamper the growth of the virus to prevent the progression of the disease after the exposure to HIV in infected individuals. This same medication can also prevent infections from developing in healthy people who are exposed to virus, both of which could offer vital ways to control the spread of this disease to keep new cases of HIV to a minimum. An independent panel of health experts analysed a range of scientific evidence, including trials of anti-HIV drugs, and came to the conclusion that making HIV screening routine in the same way that cholesterol screening is will allow more people to determine their status. One in five people in the US living with HIV aren’t aware that their status is positive, and even high risk people such as gay and bisexual men are part of low test rates. Experts want to change this and hope that this new focus shift will result in a lowered rate of people developing HIV.
This knowledge could help to improve the public health campaigns to adopt a preventative strategy and move away from a primary focus on treatments in order to reduce the spread of HIV. These campaigns will promote measures that are beyond the common knowledge of safe sex and abstinence, which seem to have only been marginally effective in reducing infection rates. Naturally, the best course of dealing with HIV is to not get it in the first place, so preventing the disease from spreading in the first place could save thousands of people from having to go through treatment and screening processes. The treatments for HIV have improved significantly in recent years, but general screening could help make it a possibility that the whole population could be healthier. It seems that this shift in focus is also timely, as combination drug therapies have now created a sense of complacency around the disease.
Around 20 to 25 percent of people who are currently living with HIV are unaware that they’re HIV positive. Researchers have noted that the sense of urgency surrounding HIV has dissipated, largely because of the improvements with medication. But it also has something to do with the common mistake that people have that HIV only affects gay men or drug users – HIV can affect anyone, and is still a dangerous virus. If HIV testing became routine, more people would realise that the HIV epidemic remains prevalent – this is the hope of health experts. Normalising the screening of HIV and making it an active part of the medical care offered to people today will help to expand the reach that researchers have to identify people who need treatment. It will also help to make the campaign for preventing HIV easier, as researchers will have a better understanding of the scope of the epidemic. The best prevention, until more research takes place, is to ensure that you always have safe sex and get checked regularly for STDs and HIV. If you think that you may have HIV, then you should seek advice and testing from your GP as soon as possible. Health experts hope that increasing the education and urgency of this condition will help to alert people to the need for safe sex practices, and the importance of regular check ups.