HIV: There is hope for a cure

with the help of new scientific and technology developmentthe HIV/AIDS research community is increasingly turning its attention to the ambitious goal of finding a cure for HIV/AIDS.

If the world approaches that encounter, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals A 90% reduction in HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths between 2010 and 2030 would revolutionize the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

Much progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS over the past 30 years. An HIV diagnosis is no longer the death sentence it was in the 1990s.

Antiretroviral treatments – which target and inhibit the replication of the virus in the body – help people living with HIV To live a long and fulfilling life, without the risk of spreading transmit the HIV virus to others.

But even with antiretroviral treatment, living with HIV is Increased risk Other serious health problems. All of this will ultimately impose an economic burden on the nation, through increased medical costs and decreased productivity in the workplace.

South Africa is a good example of a country that could benefit from finding a cure. South Africa offers free antiretroviral drugs Through the public healthcare system since 2004. that is the biggest factor 50% drop Number of new HIV infections in South Africa from 2010 to 2021.

However, the program is expensive. In 2023, South Africa's Total budget for HIV measures The total cost was R30 billion (approximately US$1.5 billion). This amount includes funding from international sources such as: US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Reliefbetter known as pepfer. The total national health budget for 2022/23 will be Approximately R64.5 billion (approximately 3.5 billion USD).

Additionally, we do not know when external funding, or any portion thereof, will run out. Funding for the fight against HIV/AIDS is Much depends on political will and leadership. Recent political developments in high-income countries, such as the US presidential election, suggest a reluctance or even opposition to injecting funds into health care beyond their borders, particularly in Africa. I am doing it.

I am involved in research into HIV prevention and treatment. The focus of my work is In particular, the study of understanding the interactions between HIV and the immune system and how these can be harnessed and translated into HIV prevention and treatment.

There is hope and optimism that HIV can be cured, and various strategies are beginning to show some promise, with partial success reported.

find a cure

Treatment research is in its early stages, but interesting research is being done. suggests gene therapy and immunotherapy It may lead to a cure.

So far, 7 people HIV has been cured all over the world. They were HIV-infected people who developed cancer and were treated for their cancer with a bone marrow transplant, a form of gene therapy. This also helped eliminate HIV, since the bone marrow transplant was from a donor lacking the HIV coreceptor (a protein on cells). A surface that viruses use to bind to and enter cells.

However, bone marrow transplantation radical,expensive and often dangerous procedure . If we have reliable ART at hand, we cannot see it as a means to develop a cure. In contrast, some strategies include a combination of early treatment and immunotherapy also shows some promise These may be further developed for long-term control of HIV without antiretroviral therapy.

Although viral infections are difficult to cure, medicine has already been able to eradicate some viral infections, such as: Hepatitis C. Others, such as colds COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection)are effectively eliminated by a normally functioning immune system.

The challenges related to HIV are Trapped in one's DNAmaking it especially difficult to remove. That too mutate a lotwhich is why developing a vaccine against it is so difficult.

So we decided to find out why Some people seem to be able to neutralize HIV If you are not on antiretroviral therapy and are on one-time or temporary therapy to boost your immune system. This appears to occur in some people who are diagnosed with HIV early in the infection, are immediately put on ART, then discontinue treatment, and at the same time receive special immune-boosting treatments with antiviral properties.

For now, the HIV research community cannot predict who will react in this way, but the African Institute of Health Research and the HIV Pathogenesis Program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal have conducting research Among a group of young women living in a community in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where HIV prevalence is high.

These young women invited to join The Socio-Economic Empowerment Program involves attending clinics twice a week for training in basic computer skills, HIV prevention, and other life skills.

At each attendance, each woman is tested for HIV. If you are found to be infected with the HIV virus, you can immediately undergo a standard course of ART. After some time, immune-boosting therapy containing broadly neutralizing antibodies was added, after which women were asked to discontinue ART treatment under strict monitoring to see if they could control the virus on their own. You can If not, she will be immediately returned to ART. more than Since the study began 10 years ago, there have been 2,500 participants, 108 of whom have tested positive for HIV. Of these 108 people living with HIV, 20 are participating in clinical trials for a cure.

research is ongoingAnd our hope is that this strategy will lead to long-term control of the virus even in the absence of ART for some women. This will help us better understand the immune mechanisms that can control the virus without antiretroviral therapy, potentially leading to a cure.

Much work still needs to be done, but finding a cure is especially important. 40 million people People around the world are living with HIV.

world not on track It aims to achieve the United Nations goal of ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic by 2030. Although HIV infection rates have decreased significantly, they are still far higher than the goals set by the global medical community. For example, in 2023, 1.3 million new HIV infections all over the world Against the goal of 500,000 people Achieve the goal of nearly eliminating HIV by 2030.

It is critical that HIV/AIDS research continue in Africa. The incidence of HIV infection has decreased significantlythis status quo could change at any time and we could go back to fighting the pandemic again. It would be better to use better tools to do it.

We also need to find treatments and vaccines tailored to Africa. Here HIV is a disease of young women,on the other hand, HIV infections are on the rise – Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

We have a long game to play, but there's definitely hope and that's definitely something to celebrate.