HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention update-1
IAS conference calls for child-specific HIV drugs
4th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention was held from July 22-25 in Sydney, Australia. The conference featured reports on the latest developments in the areas of basic, clinical and prevention science related to HIV/AIDS.The conference received a record number of abstracts. The three-day IAS conference, attended by 5,000 delegates from more than 130 countries, urged governments to allocate 10 percent of HIV funding to research, both medical and operational, to ensure treatment reached those in the world's poorest nations. Dr Tareq Salahuddin, In-charge of Star Health page attended the conference in Sydney. He will report on different issues, research papers and latest update on HIV pathogenesis, treatment and prevention discussed in the conference The world's biggest AIDS conference closed on Wednesday with a call for the development of child-specific drugs to ensure millions of HIV-infected children not only survive to adulthood, but also live without damaging side effects from their treatment. "We must do more to protect our future, finding better ways to treat the youngest among us." said International AIDS Society (IAS) President Dr Pedro Cahn. An estimated 2.3 million children are HIV infected, with around 600,000 new infections each year. Without treatment half of all babies infected will die before their second birthday. Yet only 15 percent of children who need treatment are currently receiving anti-retroviral drugs, the IAS conference in Sydney was told. The goal of treatment in children must be balanced between halting the effects of the HIV disease and the long-term effects of antiretroviral on a developing child. The conference was told that early treatment of children increased survival rates, but Sohn said some children who have been on early treatment have been forced onto second and third line drugs as the virus quickly builds resistance. Those lucky enough to receive antiretroviral treatment are usually administered adult-designed drugs, cut into smaller and sometimes inaccurate doses which may mean treatment failure. The United Nations says close to 40 million people are infected with the AIDS virus and that treatment had dramatically expanded from 240,000 people in 2001 to 1.3 million by 2005. The three-day IAS conference, attended by 5,000 delegates from more than 130 countries, urged governments to allocate 10 percent of HIV funding to research, both medical and operational, to ensure treatment reached those in the world's poorest nations. "HIV presents one of the greatest and most complex scientific challenges of our time," said Professor David Cooper, co-chair of the 2007 IAS conference. "Confronting this challenge will require sustained political will and increased resources dedicated to AIDS research."
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