[ad_1]
Attracting all eyes for several months, the Covid-19 pandemic could almost make you forget that other diseases are still widespread. Like AIDS, for which Tuesday 1 December was World Day.
Thirty-eight million people are currently living with HIV around the world, 12 million of whom are awaiting treatment, according to the United Nations Joint Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS). The organization released a report on Thursday calling on “governments to significantly step up investment in pandemic responses and to adopt a bold, ambitious, yet achievable set of HIV targets”, with the goal of eradicating HIV. HIV. AIDS as a threat to public health by 2030.
Read also the opinion: Another drug policy to tackle the HIV epidemic
Problem: If the fight against AIDS had already shown a relaxation before the arrival of Covid-19, the pandemic has further slowed down any inclination to make progress. Clinical trials on new molecules lagged significantly behind schedule, as some had to be stopped or their rollout was postponed due to health problems.
Long duration of action
However, on this front, a small revolution is emerging, especially with the arrival of long-acting treatments. According to several clinical studies, the combination of two drugs, cabotegravir and rilpivirine, given once a month or even once every two months by intramuscular injection, would actually be as effective as the three daily tablets needed to maintain HIV viral suppression.
“This combination of two drugs, approved on 16 October by the European Medicines Agency, could address one of the most difficult challenges in the fight against AIDS, which is to facilitate regular, constant and long-term intake. End of treatments antiretrovirals, ”explained Alexandra Calmy, head of the HIV / AIDS unit in the infectious disease department at Geneva University Hospitals, during a medical conference on Tuesday morning on the issue.
“These molecules could also transform the management of pediatric AIDS, as they will be studied from the age of 2, adds the professor. The main problem with these long-acting treatments is how to administer them in real life. Who will do the injections? What will happen with the missed injections? What if incompatible treatment is prescribed? What will the workload be for the clinics? In Geneva, we could assume that people come every month to get the injections, but what will happen to sites overwhelmed by large numbers of patients? “
Several treatment options
In addition to these injections, other therapeutic options may also appear in the coming years, such as implants with a duration of action that exceeds twelve months, but also treatments in the form of patches, vaginal rings or even gastric systems.
In all, around twenty anti-HIV molecules are currently being developed, the result of an increasingly in-depth knowledge of the molecular biology of the virus. “Current antiviral drugs work well, so one can ask why we are always looking for better, asks Alexandra Calmy. This is to think of all patients with multidrug-resistant viruses who have had previous failures, people for whom taking daily treatment greatly affects their quality of life, or even individuals who are not included in treatment. clinical tests. “
And for good reason: While the AIDS epidemic is very diverse and affects many women in particular, most clinical trials mainly include white men. “We are also far behind on the issue of HIV in children. Molecules that have been validated for decades in adults are just starting to emerge for pediatric use. As this affects only a small niche of patients in the world, it is of little interest to pharmaceutical companies, ”deplores Alexandra Calmy.
A vaccine?
As for a possible vaccine, unfortunately it does not yet appear on the agenda. “Sometimes I am asked how we managed to develop a Covid-19 vaccine in a year and why after forty years we still don’t have an AIDS vaccine,” emphasizes Alexandra Calmy. This is mainly due to the fact that the AIDS virus is constantly mutating, which makes the development of a vaccine particularly complex. “
Read also: “Covid-19 is an opportunity to reaffirm the right to health”
Source link
