Abandoning expensive laboratory tests will save lives of HIV sufferers

A third more people in Africa could be successfully treated for HIV if lab tests, routinely used to monitor side effects, are done away with.

The expensive tests, which involve sending blood samples for testing at regular intervals, were replaced with drug treatments in a trial by DART (Development of Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Africa). The results showed that almost as many people on the DART project were successfully treated for their infection as those on laboratory-testing programmes. The survival rate has been praised as the best reported from any trial or programme in Africa to date.

In DART, eighty-seven per cent of those in the trial survived their infection - only three per cent below those who survived HIV thanks to regular blood screening. The conclusions are important to policy makers in Africa, who face the prospect of saving more lives without spending more money than they already are.

The trial also promises to help people in more remote, or low income areas of the continent.

“At least 5 million people still need ART treatment urgently and we know resources are limited. DART results suggest ART can be delivered safely and effectively by trained and supervised health workers in remote communities where routine laboratory services are not available,” says Dr P Mugenyi from the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Uganda.

For more information on the research, contact the MRC at press.office@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk

Published: Monday, 11th January 2010 by Tom Freeman

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