WHO hails research showing effectiveness of antiretroviral treatment

The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today welcomed a study published in the British medical journal Lancet indicating that active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) could drastically cut back deaths from HIV/AIDS, and said the system should be applied widely in poor countries.

In a statement released from its office in Geneva, WHO said that although the therapy was tested in relatively rich countries, “the experience of WHO and public health workers in clinics around the world shows that anti retroviral therapy can be delivered effectively and with equally dramatic results in poor countries.”

The Lancet article said the therapy cut back the number of deaths from HIV/AIDS but did not cure the disease.

“This research and the new evidence that antiretroviral therapy is extremely effective gives added backing to WHO in its push to deliver antiretrovirals to three million people in developing countries by the end of 2005,” the statement said.

“WHO expects survival gains to be as good or even better in resource-poor settings over a similar period of time.”

Dr. Charlie Gilks of WHO’s antiretroviral team said, “Treatment with antiretrovirals works for everyone – rich and poor. Now the poor urgently need access to these drugs. We are determined to simplify treatments and to ensure that affordable, quality drugs reach those in need as quickly as possible.”