As World AIDS Day 2008 approaches, a coalition of hundreds of HIV/AIDS medical care providers and advocates, representing dozens of organizations, today sent a letter to Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), urging an end to harmful single-dose HIV/AIDS treatment as a recommended treatment for expectant mothers and infants worldwide.
The letter expresses concern over the use and recommendation of short-course therapy (such as single-dose Nevirapine and/or Zidovudine) for expectant and breastfeeding mothers as short-course treatment-standard practice in many resource-constrained settings has been proven to be less effective at preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission as well as less safe for both mother and child than full-course Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).
Calling for an immediate revision of WHO's treatment guidelines to reflect current knowledge regarding the dangers of single-dose treatment is a broad coalition led by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). Supporters include Dr. Homayoon Khanlou , AHF's Chief of Medicine, USA; Dr. Julio Montaner ; Dr. Robert R. Redfield Jr. , Director of the HIV Program at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine; Dr. Jane Aronson , CEO/Founder of Worldwide Orphans Foundation; Dr. Sophia Mengistu , Country Director/Ethiopia, Worldwide Orphans Foundation; Dr. Rodney L. Wright , Director of HIV Programs, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and, Dr. Martina C. Fuchs , Founder/CEO, Real Medicine Foundation.
"AHF, together with hundreds of AIDS medical providers and advocates, urges Dr. Chan and WHO to put an end to the harmful use of sub-standard single-dose HIV treatment for expectant mothers and their newborns," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which spearheaded the effort. "Study after study has linked the use of single-dose treatments to viral resistance, jeopardizing the effectiveness of future treatment and lowering the chances of a patient's survival. Accepting the status quo and treating expectant mothers and infants in low-income countries with low-quality therapy - especially as the number of people accessing treatment increases - has dire consequences and is a practice that must end."