HIV infection rates lower in high treatment areas

A new study shows that people living in areas where uptake of HIV treatment is high are less likely to acquire the virus than in places where few are given care, according to UNAIDS. The research by the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies marks the first time that the positive impact of antiretroviral therapy on infection rates has been proven for a community, the UN agency said.

UNAIDS programme division's deputy executive director Paul De Lay, said the findings were extremely important, adding that the organization encouraged all countries and communities to achieve high coverage of antiretroviral therapy, both for the benefit of people living with HIV and for the communities in which they lived. The research on data collected from KwaZulu-Natal found that in areas where antiretroviral therapy uptake was above 30 percent, uninfected people were 38 percent less likely to acquire HIV. Frank Tanser from the research centre in the University of KwaZulu-Natal said it was the first time that researchers had been able to show such results in a population setting - an important finding which would help guide the AIDS response.

AFP, 12 March 2012