WINNING THE WAR AGAINSTHIV and AIDS

WINNING THE WAR AGAINST HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDs has caused approximately 35million deaths around the world of which this number is expected to rise. This has resulted to the public losing hope on the health organizations, the health sectors and researchers for failing to come up with a solution on how to cure this deadly virus.
Thanks to advancements in science over the decades, researchers have dramatically changed the way the disease is treated. In 1988 there were very few treatments available and at that time the medication was even worse than the disease.
Researchers making an impact.
Brian Johns is one of the thousands of HIV/AIDs scientists who has made it his life’s mission to eradicate HIV. He has led to advancing the treatments and this has made patients to no longer    take 16 pills every three to four hours. Today, thanks to Brian his work and that of his team of 25 biopharmaceutical researchers, HIV treatment in many cases involves only a once daily medication dose with significantly reduced side effects. These breakthrough have also done more than just treat the disease. They’ve improved patient quality of life, significantly decreased death rates and increased patient life expectancy by 10 years.
The latest innovations.
In 1980s, HIV/AIDS was an acute fatal disease. Survival was measured in weeks and months. Today, HIV is considered a chronic, manageable condition with several once-daily treatment options. The introduction of anti-retroviral therapies (ARTs) in the mid-1990s revolutionized the treatment of HIV. Prior to ARTs doctors could only treat some of the disease symptoms rather than the underlying cause. HIV wrecks havoc on body’s ability to fight infections by destroying immune cells. ARTs improve the immune system’s ability to fight off infections and certain related  cancers. This innovative breakthrough has led to an 88% decline in death rates.
It is now evident that HIV/AIDS cannot be cured but strict adherence to antiretroviral regimens(ARVs) can dramatically slow the disease’s progress as well as prevent secondary infections and complications.
COMPILED BY,
JAMES GACHUKI.

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