Limitations of ARVs
Scaling up anti-retroviral therapy in resource limited settings: treatment guidelines for a public health approach (2003 revision)
Fewer than five percent of people requiring ARV have access to the medicines they need
Authors:
; WHO
Publisher:
World Health Organization WHO File, 2003
This document from the World Health Organization (WHO) provides guidance on scaling up antiretroviral therapy (ART) in resource limited settings. It is intended primarily for use by Treatment Advisory Boards, national AIDS programme managers, and other senior level policymakers involved in the planning of national and international HIV care strategies in developing countries. Topics addressed include when to start ART, which regimens to start, reasons for changing ART, and what regimens to continue if treatment needs to be changed. It also addresses how treatment should be monitored, with specific reference to the side effects of ART, and makes specific recommendations for certain patient subgroups.
WHO believes that at least three million people needing ART should be able to get medicines by 2005, a more than ten-fold increase from current levels. These guidelines propose a public health approach to meet this goal based on three key tenets: scale-up of antiretroviral treatment programmes in resource-limited settings, standardisation and simplification of ARV regimens, and evidence-based ARV treatment programmes that enhance treatment outcomes for individual clients and reduce the potential for emergence of drug resistant forms of the HIV virus. [adapted from authors]
