Antiretroviral therapies have helped people live substantially longer with HIV. A study published in the Lancet HIV reported that a 20-year-old infected with HIV today can expect to live about 78 years, which is comparable to individuals who do not have the disease.
Still, the new data proves that a growing number of sufferers are experiencing the consequences of drug resistance. Drug resistance occurs when people don’t adhere to a prescribed treatment plan. This often happens because they don’t have access to high-quality HIV treatment or care and can’t take their full regimen of medication.
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Posted by BlackDoctor.org on Friday, August 4, 2017
“We need to ensure that people who start treatment can stay on effective treatment, to prevent the emergence of HIV drug resistance,” said Dr. Gottfried Hirnschall, director of WHO’s HIV Department and Global Hepatitis Program, in statement about the findings. “When levels of HIV drug resistance become high we recommend that countries shift to an alternative first-line therapy for those who are starting treatment.”
Know Your Status
Therein lies the importance of early detecting via testing. Ways to know your status include:
- Ask your primary care physician for an HIV test.
- Test at home with OraQuick, the FDA-approved in-home HIV test.
- Check local substance abuse programs, community health centers and hospitals about free testing events.
- Call 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636) for testing locations near you.
- Visit gettested.cdc.gov or locator.hiv.gov for testing locations.
- You can even get updates via text messag, by texting KNOW IT (566948) with your zip code.