HIV medication resistance is on the rise, with the number of people being treated with antiretrovirals rising to 27.5 million, up 2 million from the previous year, according to a recent analysis.
The HIV drug-resistance study, conducted by the World Health Organisation, found that four out of five nations with high HIV prevalence achieved success suppressing the virus with antiretroviral therapies.
However, the researchers observed a rise in nations approaching a 10 per cent threshold of medication resistance, underscoring the necessity for a shift to an alternate therapy, which the WHO has advocated since 2019.
In 21 of the 30 nations studied, resistance was observed to be more than 10 per cent.
According to studies in ten Sub-Saharan African nations, approximately half of newly diagnosed newborns have drug-resistant HIV.
WHO’s Global HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and STI Programme Director Dr Meg Doherty said the report held governments responsible for medication resistance monitoring and patient care.
“In the future, we will expand our surveillance to new ARVs [antiretrovirals], and those that are delivered as long-acting agents for prevention and treatment, so that we can maintain our ARVs for the lifetime of people living with HIV,” Dr Doherty said.
