By Brenna Matendere
Research from Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe on HIV which found out safer and effective options for second-line HIV treatment in children has found global acclamation.
The research was presented during the 12th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2023) held in Brisbane in August this year.
In coming up with the research findings, experts from Zimbabwe who joined their continental counterparts made all children randomised to take one of two NRTI backbone medicines.
CD4 cell counts increased across all arms and there was no evidence of a difference according to either the NRTI or anchor regimen randomisation.
The findings therefore highlighted the need to develop a child-friendly fixed-dose combination of tenofovir alafenamide fumarate and emtricitabine plus dolutegravir as an anchor medicine.
Alternatively, darunavir or atazanavir could be used as the anchor.
The research has since been shortlisted as one of the major five findings taken from across the globe.
The other four, researchers presented the latest data on antiretrovirals, their side effects and how to best use them in medical care.
One study found that adherence counselling reversed viral rebound on dolutegravir in 95% of cases, meaning people did not need to switch treatment.
Two studies found that switching away from integrase inhibitors did not reverse weight gain, and instead, people who switched continued to gain weight at a similar rate to those who didn’t. One study looked at weight changes following a switch to a protease inhibitor-based regimen, the other following a switch to doravirine/islatravir.
Researchers noted that in the future, managing weight gain could be very important for preventing metabolic disorders in people with HIV. This may include pharmaceutical interventions, but these are expensive, and studies looking at their effects on people living with HIV are needed.
Zimbabwe has made great strides in prevention, resulting in a decline in estimated HIV prevalence rates from 26.5 per cent in 1997 to 14.3 per cent to date.
The upcoming International Conference on Aids and STIs (sexually transmitted infections) in Africa (ICASA) will focus more on ending AIDS in Zimbabwe and other African countries.
Speaking during a recent press conference in Harare, 22nd ICASA president and former Zimbabwe Health Minister David Parirenyatwa called for the continued fight against HIV and Aids because complacency had started to creep in among citizens.
ICASA will be held in Zimbabwe from December 4 to 9 this year.
Parirenyatwa said the event would also focus on issues of preventing diseases such as cervical cancer amid a high level of negligence and laxity in screening and diagnosis.
“The issue of anti-microbial resistance is key and we hope that during ICASA we are able to highlight this important subject. We have over 1 500 abstracts that came up for the conference and we look forward to the constructive discussions that will be done,” he said.
More researches will emerge during the event that will further compound the fight against HIV and AIDS.
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