Australia's Society for HIV Medicine says about 30 per cent of people living with HIV are not accessing treatment, despite evidence medications could reduce the risk of passing on the virus by more than 95 per cent. About 7,000 sufferers in Australia could be seriously damaging their health by refusing or delaying treatment, which could be as simple as one tablet per day, doctors and HIV activists say. The president of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine, Dr Edwina Wright, says a recent study found treatment of an HIV positive partner "will reduce the chance of transmission to their negative partner by 96 per cent". She told the launch of Start the Conversation Today, a campaign to encourage HIV patients to talk with their doctors about treatments misconceptions about the dangers and side-effects of medications are being blamed for a reluctance by patients to begin treating their condition. However she pointed out modern medicines are more simple, more forgiving if a sufferer forgets to take them, and far less toxic. "In many situations a patient can go with a single tablet a day to treat their HIV infection."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 4th May 2012 - 8:35pm