Drug-resistant HIV
has been increasing in parts of sub-Saharan Africa over the last
decade, according to experts writing in the Lancet.
Studies on 26,000 untreated
HIV-positive people in developing countries were
reviewed by
the team.
They said resistance
could build up if people fail to stick to drug regimes, and because monitoring
could be poor.
A UK HIV organisation said
resistance
was a serious problem in Africa where alternative treatments were lacking.
The researchers,
from the World
Health Organization (WHO) and University College London (UCL) found the most
rapid increase in drug resistance occurred in East Africa, at 29% per
year. In Southern
Africa, it was 14% per year.
There was no
change in resistance
over time in Latin America and in West and Central Africa.
'Early warning'
Writing in the Lancet,
authors Dr Silvia Bertagnolio from the WHO and Dr Ravindra Gupta at UCL said:
"Without continued and increased national and international efforts, rising HIV
drug resistance
could jeopardise
a decade-long trend of decreasing HIV/Aids-related illness and death in low-
and middle-income countries."
“Start Quote
We
need further
research into
the causes of this drug resistance in Africa”
Deborah Jack National
Aids Trust
Dr
Gupta told
the BBC: "Drug resistance is a consequence of people not taking their
medication properly.
"We do expect to see
drug resistance,
and it's at around 10% in the UK and US. But here, we monitor people
regularly and switch people to different drugs if they
develop resistance."
He said that quite basic
measures could help people to better adhere to drug regimes in developing
countries, such as access to food and clean water so they can
take their
drugs, and monitoring patients as effectively as possible.
The researchers
said no changes were needed to the drug regimes, but Dr Gupta said: "This work
gives us an early-warning that things could get worse."
Deborah Jack, chief executive
of the UK's
National Aids Trust (NAT), said: "In the UK we are fortunate that drug resistance is not a
serious problem, and if a person has drug resistance there are other combinations of anti-retroviral therapy
that we can use to address this.
"Sadly in sub-Saharan
Africa fewer treatment options are available. If drug resistance
occurs there
doesn't tend to be an alternative therapy.
"We need further research
into the causes
of this drug
resistance
in Africa, and urgent action to support people daily access to their
medication."
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