Rauch: “No reason to be ashamed of the test”
HIV tests are offered free of charge and anonymously by the AIDS organizations in Vienna, Vorarlberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, Carinthia, Styria and Upper Austria. In addition, tests can be carried out by general practitioners, and non-prescription self-tests in pharmacies cost around 30 euros. “It is important to know your status – for your own health, but also for the health of sexual partners. There is no reason to be ashamed of getting tested (…). Together we can stop chains of transmission and achieve our global goal of ending AIDS by 2030,” said Health Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens).
Ms. Traisulee Traisoranakul, Deputy Spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office, revealed that General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, joins the campaign for “World AIDS Day” (World AIDS Day), which the World Health Organization. It is designated on December 1 of every year to raise awareness of the importance of AIDS prevention, acceptance and understanding of people living with HIV worldwide. by supporting the campaign to stop the spread of AIDS Provide people with correct self-protection measures that can be implemented in daily life.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed Thailand’s commitment to end AIDS by 2030 by advancing the national strategy to end AIDS. 2017-2030 There are 3 main goals: no infection, no death, no stigma to solve the problem according to the strategy 1. Reduce new HIV infections to less than 1,000 cases per year 2. Reduce deaths among people infected with H. ivy There are no more than 4,000 left per year and 3. Reduce discrimination. related to HIV and gender down from the original 90 percent with basic principles create justice reduce inequality gender equality
Ms. Traisulee said that the government has set up 6 strategies to end AIDS in the long run, namely: 1. Focus on and expedite the delivery of highly effective services to cover areas and populations at risk; 3. Develop and accelerate treatment social care and assistance 4. Improve the image of understanding at the individual, family and community levels. There are rights protection mechanisms to reduce discrimination and discrimination. 5. Invest in management efficiency in all sectors and at all levels. 6. Promote and develop access to justice. Make effective use of data and research
Ms. Traisulee said that in 2022, Thailand has served as the chairman of the United Nations AIDS Program Executive Committee or UNAIDS PCB. On this occasion, Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Health was a representative of Thailand pushing through various activities Let the world see the importance of 3 issues: protecting young people. free from AIDS Because it is a group of people who are both the future of the country and the world. Accelerating universal coverage of HIV/AIDS services and promoting the reduction of stigma and discrimination once morest those living with HIV. Both in providing health services, educational institutions, workplaces and communities.
However, in mid-December this year Thailand will host the 51st UNAIDS PCB Conference, which will feature 22 member countries, non-profit organizations (NGOs), and sponsoring bodies. (Co-Sponsor) attending and Mr. Anutin will chair the meeting. By hosting this time, Thailand will push the world to see the importance of ending mother-to-child transmission and ensuring access to HIV prevention. and emphasized the issue of non-discrimination and reduction of stigma. This will be an important mechanism to reduce threats to the global health system and reduce the country’s potential from HIV and AIDS.
It is estimated that in our country there are between 160,000 and 170,000 infected with HIV, of which 14% are not diagnosed
According to UNAIDS estimates, between 160,000 and 170,000 people in Spain live with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). And 14% are undiagnosed.
Currently patients must take the antiretroviral treatment (a combination of drugs to suppress HIV replication), as your immune system is not able to control the virus spontaneously.
It is a disease for which there is still no cure, but it does have a very effective and safe treatment.
And now, an investigation opens a new hope.
The results of the clinical trial of the HTI vaccine from the biotech company AELIX, in collaboration with Gilead Sciences, show that this injection can improve the response once morest the virus.
This new investigation, which has recently been published in the scientific journal Nature Medicine, has been carried out with 45 patients (44 men and 1 woman) with viral suppression for at least one year, which means that the amount of HIV in blood is very low.
Our T-cell vaccine approach has the potential to play a pivotal role in strategies to cure HIV infection.
To study its efficacy, once administered this vaccine participants temporarily discontinue antiretroviral treatment and virus levels in their blood are measured weekly for six months.
Thus, the efficacy of vaccination has been evaluated and how the use of the AELIX HTI vaccine can allow patients to interrupt Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) for a prolonged period of at least six months.
As the Doctor Christian Branderco-founder and scientific director of AELIX:
- “Our T-cell vaccine approach has the potential to play a pivotal role in strategies to cure HIV infection.”
Of all the patients analyzed (15 received placebo and 26 vaccines), 41 discontinued treatment and were studied for a total of 24 weeks.
The result was:
- 40% of those who received the vaccine have managed to go six months without this treatment.
- In the placebo group, all but one of the participants had to restart treatment before twelve weeks.
This vaccine “allows us to improve the suppression of the virus without medication”
This is how the Dr. Beatriz Motheprincipal investigator of the study from the Fight Against Infections Foundation and associate researcher at the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute.
- “The positive results of this trial show that it is possible to induce an immune response in a person living with HIV, allowing for improved suppression of the virus in the absence of antiretroviral medication.”
The second phase of the clinical trial, which will begin in the coming months, called AELIX-003, aims to investigate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of the vaccine in combination with the Toll-Like 7 (TLR7) receptor agonist, in 57 people. with HIV receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).
Devi SenGuptadirector of the HIV cure development program at Gilead Sciences, highlights that the path to a cure for this disease “is a complex scientific challenge and collaboration is key to catalyze research.”
HIV and AIDS, are they the same?
HIV is not the same as AIDS, as he explained to this portal, on the occasion of the World Day once morest the Fight once morest AIDS, the doctor Vicenç Falcóhead of the Infectious Diseases Service of the Vall d’Hebron Hospital.
- “They are different phases of the same disease. And it is that, this virus affects the defenses, and when they are very deteriorated, complications begin (opportunistic infections due to the weakened immune system), which is what is known as like (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome)”.
That is, AIDS is the final phase of HIV.
What are the symptoms of HIV?
The symptomatology of the infection develops in three phases:
- The first phase goes unnoticed. It occurs between 2 and 4 weeks following infection and can cause symptoms very similar to those of the flu.
- In the second phase, called chronic, the retrovirus continues to infect cells, albeit very slowly. That is why medication with antiretroviral drugs is key. If the patient follows a treatment correctly and undergoes regular check-ups, the infection can become chronic, make it undetectable, and never develop AIDS.
- In the third and final phase, the virus has multiplied excessively and the patient’s immune defenses are unable to respond.
However, patients who are on treatment block the “natural history of the virus” so they do not develop AIDS and, therefore, other associated diseases such as:
- Pneumonia.
- Candidiasis.
- Tuberculosis.
- Cytomegalovirus.
- Cryptococcal meningitis.
- Toxoplasmosis.
“There is also a series of tumors associated with this immunosuppression, and it is worth highlighting the Kaposi’s sarcomaa skin cancer that causes patches of abnormal tissue under the skin, or certain lymphomas (blood tumors)
How is HIV spread?
HIV is transmitted through four fluids: blood, semen, vaginal secretions, and breast milk. Which means that it can be transmitted by three routes: sexual (anal, vaginal or oral), blood and from mother to child.
- It is not transmitted by saliva, tears or sweat.
- Neither by insect bites
- And neither by contact with pets.
Undetectable = untransmittable
Currently, there are different drugs for people with HIV, which are increasingly “more powerful, better tolerated, with almost no toxicity and easy to take.”
Today, the vast majority of patients only have to take a single pill (a few years ago the treatment consisted of a cocktail of pills), which has improved the quality and Life expectancy“which almost comes close to uninfected people.”
- But one of the best news is that antiretroviral treatment is capable of “eliminating this virus to the point where it is undetectable.”
This means that the viral load cannot be detected in blood tests, which causes “the disease to not progress and the immune system to recover.”
And another of the great advances has been to ensure that, if the viral load is undetectable, the disease is not transmitted “sexually, but through blood.”
How is HIV transmission prevented?
- Use a condom (both male and female) when having penetrative sex, be it oral, vaginal or anal, with people who are infected or whose infection is unknown.
- Know the risk of exposure from different sexual practices and the serological status of sexual partners.
- Avoid sharing syringes, needles, and other injection supplies, such as instruments to pierce the skin for piercings or tattoos.
- Periodically perform blood tests to detect sexually transmitted diseases.
Permanently suppress virus multiplication
At a press background discussion in Vienna, Univ.-Prof. dr Alexander Zoufaly, infectiologist and President of the Austrian AIDS Society: “Regular intake of well-tolerated and effective HIV therapy is a prerequisite for permanently suppressing virus multiplication and thus also preventing the virus from being passed on.” It is particularly important to check the immune status of the elderly to precisely coordinate the additional intake of necessary medication (blood pressure, cholesterol, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, etc.).