HIV/AIDS no longer death sentence, says specialist
National News - Friday, October 24, 2008
HIV and its full-blown form AIDS have ravaged the world for more than two decades, but, thanks to early treatment techniques and better medication, they no longer mean a death sentence, says an expert.
"People with HIV/AIDS should no longer fear losing their lives as they now have the chance to recover if they visit hospitals early, undergo regular treatment and live healthy lifestyle," Nasronudin, a tropical disease specialist at the Dr. Soetomo General Hospital, said here Tuesday.
Nasronudin, also head of the Tropical Diseases Department at Airlangga University, said that, despite the absence of effective drugs, an anti-retroviral vaccine (ARV) has been found that can significantly reduce mortality and morbidity rates in cases of HIV infection.
"This ARV was given to patients with HIV/AIDS undergoing an intensive treatment at the infectious diseases intermediate treatment unit at the hospital. Results show that mortality can be reduced by at least 5 percent," he said.
According to laboratory tests, regular doses of the ARV could reduce the number of virus parts from 100,000 per cc of blood to 50 per cc of blood, he added.
"Intensive treatment with the medication can reduce the number of virus parts to 5 per cc of blood. Consumption of nutritious food can prevent the virus from developing and simultaneously improve patients' immunity," he said, calling for all sides to ratchet up the common fight against the disease's spread in the country.
Nasronudin added that the mortality rate among patients with HIV/AIDS was further reduced following the granting of free ARVs in 2004. "The mortality rate was pushed down from 100 percent in 2004, to 27.9 percent in 2005, 18.6 percent in 2006 and 16.7 percent in 2007."
He warned, however, about the ARV's side effects. Patients could suffer from kidney and liver disturbances and skin irritations; he suggested that patients regularly visit doctors to minimize possible side effects.
He said that people should not stigmatize the disease and warned everyone must be careful to avoid sexual practices which could lead to infection.
Nasronudin said the number of patients with HIV/AIDS at the hospital increased by up to 300 percent in the past two years.
He said the disease was more commonly transferred through intravenous drug use than through sexual behavior and that the sharp increase of cases had a lot to do with increased public awareness of the disease. Greater public acceptance of those with HIV/AIDS is thanks to the role NGOs have played in the war on the disease.
"With HIV/AIDS we're really only seeing the tip of the iceberg. But as it melts, we're getting an increasing number of people visiting public health centers and hospitals," he said.
According to data from the Aids Commission of Indonesia, between 11,000 and 18,000 cases of the disease have been reported since AIDS was first detected in Indonesia in 1987.
Originally discovered by scientists in 1981, the pandemic infected more than 33 million and killed more than two million people worldwide in 2007 alone.
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HIV/AIDS no longer death sentence, says specialist