Impact of HIV infection on COVID-19 clinical outcome In June 2020, STI shared a podcast describing the first available data about the outcomes of COVID-19 related hospitalisation for people living with HIV (PLWH). We shared some take-home points: 1) Encourage disclosure of known HIV status on COVID-19 related hospital admittance 2) Encourage HIV testing […]
Category: HIV care
HIV epidemic in Indonesia: Are we there yet?
In this the second STI podcast of 2021, we focus on the HIV epidemic in Indonesia and how the country strives to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 UNAIDS sustainability goals for people living with HIV (PLWH). Episode Highlights: Indonesia is a densely populated country spread over 17,000 islands of stunning beauty. It has one of the […]
HIV & COVID-19 – What do we know so far?
Listen to STI’s podcasts focusing on HIV & COVID-19: COVID-19 Vaccine and People who live with HIV Impact of HIV infection on COVID-19 clinical outcome Take-home points PLWHIV who have COVID-19 do as well as the general population if they have no other risk factors and who are well immune-reconstituted on anti-retroviral medication. […]
COVID-19 and HIV: Calling attention to the importance of ensuring HIV status and testing is included in the management of COVID-19
As health care services worldwide undergo major reconfiguration to respond to the coronavirus crisis, there are simple and affordable ways to improve outcomes that relate to both HIV and COVID-19 care. The first step is to make sure that the HIV status is recorded on all hospital admissions relating to COVID-19. This in turn will […]
Why stimulant use may cause HIV progression independently of behavioural risk-factors
In many countries injection drug users (IDU) constitute a ‘key population’ for HIV/AIDS. There may in some contexts be substantial overlap with other groups – where, for example, the IDU are also sex-workers, or prisoners. In reality, IDU may be exposed to multiple risk factors, which can be hard to isolate from each other. However, […]
Intervene fast to prevent lasting cognitive impairment during the primary phase of HIV infection
The impact of HIV/AIDS on cognitive function is the topic of a paper appearing in STIs as early as 1989, where some degree of neurological impairment is observed in patients who otherwise appear ‘well’ (Carne & Harrison (STI)). Dementia may be rarely seen nowadays, but quality-of-life limiting cognitive impairment remains a serious issue for some […]
Anti-HIV strategies in limited resource settings set the pattern for combating other diseases
HIV-specific interventions in poor regions of the world like sub-Saharan Africa may have benefits for their health systems that exceed the initial aims of those interventions (How should HIV-specific charitable interventions like PEPFAR be evaluated? (STI/blog)). This is the encouraging message coming out of a recent evaluation of treatment of rheumatoid heart disease (RHD) in […]
What is the potential of ‘Treatment for Prevention’ in fighting HIV/AIDS?
UNAIDS 90:90:90 appears to have set the course for a global ‘treatment as prevention’ strategy. In 2015 the US revised its National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) to harmonize its goals with UNAIDS 90% targets for testing, engagement in care, and virological suppression. Though the HIV/AIDS community have been nervous about the impact of the recent change […]
Modelling the scale-down of HIV services in sub-Saharan Africa
Search BMJ STI archive, and you will find frequent references to ‘scaling up’, and few – if any – to ‘scaling back’ or ‘scaling down’ (other than Parker/STI). Who knows if all this may not be about to change, if the US government goes ahead with threats to cut current foreign aid budget ear-marked for […]
Achieving UNAIDS 90-90-90: More haste less speed?
UNAIDS (2014) has set targets for HIV management that seem ambitious, if not unrealistically so (UNAIDS: 90-90-90): 90% of those living with HIV to know their status; 90% of known HIV+ individuals to undergo ART initiation; 90% of ART+ initiated to achieve viral suppression. A one-year-in report from a large cluster-randomized study of home-based testing […]