[afro-nets] HAART can lengthen lifespan of persons with AIDS for 15 years

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

HAART can lengthen lifespan of persons with AIDS for 15 years
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HIV THERAPY HAS SAVED MORE THAN 2 MILLION YEARS OF LIFE IN US
 
Last Updated: 2005-02-28 11:07:39 -0400 (Reuters Health)
 
By Deborah Mitchell
 
BOSTON (Reuters Health) - Antiretroviral therapy and opportunis-
tic infection prophylaxis has saved at least 2 million years of 
life in the US, according to the results of a study that quanti-
fied the total impact of HIV treatment in the US for the first 
time. The researchers also found that the survival benefits of 
HIV treatment surpass those obtained with some other commonly 
used interventions for cancer and coronary artery disease.
 
"More than anything else, our results speak to the clinical and 
public health imperative to promote and finance routine, volun-
tary HIV screening for all adults in the United States," lead 
author Dr. Rochelle Walensky told participants of the 12th An-
nual Retrovirus Conference on Friday afternoon.
 
Dr. Walensky, of Harvard Medical School in Boston, and col-
leagues estimated the cumulative survival benefits of highly ac-
tive antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and opportunistic infection 
prophylaxis in the US from 1989 to 2003. They used published es-
timates of the number of adults with AIDS who received the rec-
ommended standard of care in the year of diagnosis.
 
"What we found is that 2 million years of life have been saved 
as a direct and attributable result of progress in HIV care," 
she said. "Whenever possible, we sought to underestimate the ef-
fects of care. Thus we understated the number of eligible pa-
tients, we understated the efficacy of treatment, and we under-
stated the rate of linkage to care. Still, we got 2 million."
 
Her group also found that "most of the survival gain is attrib-
utable to antiretroviral therapy." They estimated that HAART 
"can lengthen the lifespan of persons with AIDS by nearly 15 
years."
 
"This kind of survival benefit," she pointed out, "far exceeds 
that which can currently be achieved for patients with other 
chronic diseases, including chemotherapy for breast cancer, by-
pass surgery for coronary artery disease and marrow bone trans-
plantation for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma."
 
They also found that zidovudine treatment averted about 2860 new 
cases of HIV infection in infants, which resulted in another 
186,790 years of life gained. The survival benefit would have 
increased to 277,150 years had all pregnant HIV-infected women 
received zidovudine.
 
However, the benefits of treatment can only be achieved if those 
who need therapy receive it, Dr. Walensky added.
 
"There are 900,000 persons infected with HIV in this country; of 
these, as many as 280,000 don't know it," Dr. Walensky said. 
"These are the life years we have failed to save. Instead of 2 
million years of life, we could have saved over 4 million years 
had we identified and linked these people to care."