It's best to start ARVs immediately

 17 May, 2016 07:43

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HIV-positive patients in Johannesburg offered antiretroviral drugs on the day they tested positive were more likely to start treatment immediately than those who had to return to the clinic up to five times before being given the drugs.

Multiple studies have shown that the sooner HIV-positive patients start ARVs the healthier they will be and become non-infectious quickly, reducing the chance of the virus spreading.

Boston University and Wits University staff looked at simplifying the process of starting ARV treatment in one group of patients and compared it to a group who followed the normal process of multiple counselling sessions before starting treatment.

They did this because many South Africans do not return for treatment after testing positive or only start ARVs when they are close to death.

Their study found: "If patients are deterred from starting treatment by the complexity of the process, then one strategy for reducing the loss of patients may be to shorten the time period, reduce the number of visits and simplify the steps required."

By doing this, researchers found that 36% more patients started treatment and 26% more achieved viral suppression.

Last week the Department of Health announced that, from September, any HIV-positive person would be put on treatment immediately.