Data and numbers
- HIV continues to be a major global public health problem, having claimed more than 34 million lives so far.In 2014, 1.2 [ 980000-1, 6 ] million people died from HIV worldwide.
- At the end of 2014, there were 36.9 [1.9-2.2] million people who contracted HIV in 2014.
- By mid-2015, there were 15.8 million people infected with HIV who received antiretroviral therapy worldwide.
- Between 2000 and 2015, new HIV infections have decreased by 35%, and deaths related to AIDS by 24%, which means 7.8 million lives saved, thanks to international efforts that led to the achievement of the goals of the Millennium Development Goals related to HIV.
- The extension ofantiretroviral treatment to all people with HIV and the increase of preventive options, could help to avoid 21 million deaths related to AIDS and 28 million new infections by 2030.
Transmission
HIV can be transmitted through contact with various body fluids of infected people, such as blood, breast milk, semen or vaginal secretions. It is not possible to get infected as a result of current and daily contact, such as kissing, handshaking or sharing personal items, food or drinks.
Risk factors
There are certain behaviors and conditions that increase the risk of a person contracting HIV among them:
- Practiceanal or vaginal intercourse without protection;
- Having some other sexually transmitted infection such as syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea or bacterial vaginosis;
- Share needles or contaminated syringes, drug solutions or other infectious material to inject drugs;
- Receive injections or blood transfusions without safety guarantees or be subject to medical procedures that involve cutting or drilling with non-sterile instruments.
- Accidental needle sticking with an infected needle, injury that affects health personnel in particular.
Counseling and screening
Screening tests must be voluntary: the right of people to decline to submit to them must be recognized. The performance of compulsory tests or coercion, whether by a health professional, an authority, the sexual partner or a family member, is unacceptable because it is contrary to good public health practice and constitutes a violation of the law of human rights.
Some countries have introduced as an alternative the tests performed by the patient himself, or are planning to do so.
With these tests, the person who wants to know their status collects the sample, performs the test and interprets their results in private. The tests performed by the patient do not offer a definitive diagnosis but require new tests performed by a healthcare professional following a validated national algorithm. All counseling and screening services should be governed by the five fundamental principles recommended in this regard by WHO: informed consent, confidentiality, facilitation of guidance (or counseling), assurance that the test results are correct, and link with assistance, treatment and other services.
Prevención
1. Use of male or female condoms
2. Screening and counseling in relation to HIV and STIs
3. Voluntary male circumcision practiced by medical personnel.
4. Prevention based on the use of antiretrovirals
- Use of antiretroviral treatment as a method of prevention
- Pre- exposure prophylaxis for the HIV-negative partner.
The oral prophylaxis of HIV before exposure consists in the daily administration of antiretrovirals to uninfected people in order to block the acquisition of the virus. More than 10 randomized and controlled studies have shown the effectiveness of pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce the transmission of the virus in different populations, such as serodiscordant heterosexual couples (i.e. one member of the infected partner and the other not), men with homosexual relationships, transgender women, high-risk homosexual couples or injecting drug users.
In September 2015, WHO published the document entitled Guidelines on when to start treatment antiretroviral therapy and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, which recommends prophylaxis before exposure as a preventive option for people at significant risk of HIV infection.
- Prophylaxis after exposure to HIV
Post- exposure prophylaxis consists of taking antiretrovirals within 72 hours after exposure to HIV to prevent infection. Post- exposure prophylaxis includes counseling services, first aid, HIV testing and the administration of antiretroviral therapy for 28 days along with complementary care.
The updated WHO guidelines published in December 2014 recommend prophylaxis after occupational and non-occupational exposures in adults and children. The new recommendations offer simpler guidelines based on antiretrovirals already used in the treatment. The application of the new guidelines will facilitate prescribing, improve adherence and increase completion rates of prophylaxis postponement to prevent HIV infection in accidentally exposed persons, such as health professionals, who have unprotected sex or victims of HIV / AIDS from sexual abuse
- Harm reduction in injecting drug users
People who inject drugs can protect themselves from HIV infection using sterile material, particularly needles and syringes, for each injection.
Comprehensive packages of measures to prevent and treat HIV infection include the following components:
- Programs on needles and syringes;
- Substitution treatment ofi ACEOs for drug and other interventions for drug treatment based on scientific criteria;
- VHIñcounseling and testing
- Treatment against HIV and care for the infected;
- Access to condoms;
- Treatment of STIs, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis.
- Elimination of HIV transmission from mother to child
WHO response
WHO is collaborating with countries in the implementation of the Global Health Sector Strategy for HIV / AIDS 2011-2015. For 2014-2015, the Organization has identified six operational objectives to help countries more efficiently move towards the global goals related to HIV.
- Strategic use ofantiretroviral drugs in the treatment and prevention of HIV;
- Elimination of HIV in children and expansion of access to pediatric treatment;
- Improving the response of the health sector to HIV in key populations;
- Greater innovation in HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care;
- Strategic information for an effective expansion;
- Closer link between HIV and related health outcomes.
WHO is working on the development of a new global strategy for the response of the health sector to HIV, 2016-2021.
WHO is one of the co-sponsors of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS), where it leads activities related to the treatment of HIV and care for those affected, and with co-infection with HIV and AIDS. tuberculosis, in addition to coordinating with UNICEF the work aimed at eliminating the mother-to-child transmission of the virus.
It is important to mention that Pharmalat Corporation has been developing effective formulas that act on the causes for several chronic and degenerative diseases that until now many pharmaceutical companies eradicate only the symptoms, that is why it seemed very important to write this article and be able to inform to the population that currently exists many avant-garde methods to develop products that act attacking the cause of any type of disease, among these I can mention the HIV / AIDS, which has been through the scientific department of BioMolecular Innovation which is developing a specific formulation to eliminate the cause of this disease.
Lic. Enrique Schlenker .
Manager of the BioMolecular HIV / AIDS Line .
Pharmalat Corporation .
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