HIV / AIDS Treatment

TREATMENT ISSUES

Three important facts about treatment for HIV are:

1. Treatment is available for HIV-infected persons who are asymptomatic (without symptoms).
2. There are numerous ongoing clinical trials and treatments.
   Prevention of several illnesses affecting persons with HIV infection is possible.
3. Many new therapies have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for undergoing clinical trials. Since treatment for asymptomatic HIV infection is now available, early diagnosis of infected persons is vitally important.

There is debate about how soon to start anti-retroviral therapy (drugs that weaken HIV's ability to reproduce and thus delay, minimize or prevent the virus from damaging your immune system). As with so many complicated treatment decisions, it will help to talk to your health care providers and other PHAs who have faced the same dilemmas.

Some providers and PHAs believe that if you initiate combination anti-retroviral therapy within 12 weeks of infection, you may be able to eradicate HIV from your body right at the start. This has yet to be proven, and most persons are uncertain as to exactly when they become infected.

There is also some emerging medical opinion that if you have been exposed to HIV through a needle stick injury or other occupational exposure, you should initiate combination anti-retroviral therapy within 36 hours of exposure. A number of hospitals have developed protocols on starting treatment after possible occupational exposure.

ACNL has an extensive resource area which has a great deal of treatment information. As well, there is an HIV/AIDS Clinic in St. John's which provides comprehensive health services to PHAs. Finally, the Community AIDS Treatment Information Exchange program is a national resource which can be accessed by anyone across the country using their website. www.catie.ca