HIV is still not defeated 40 years after its discovery
Published: Sunday, Apr 28th 2024, 13:40
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40 years ago, the US government announced HIV as the cause of AIDS. Despite great progress, experts say the disease is still a problem today. In Switzerland, too, well over a hundred people are newly diagnosed with HIV every year.
"However, the situation today is fundamentally different to forty years ago," said Dominique Braun from the University Hospital Zurich in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. The doctor and researcher is involved in the HIV cohort study, which has been running for over 35 years.
Exactly forty years ago, researchers around the world launched an arms race against the AIDS virus HIV. On April 23, 1984, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Margaret Heckler, announced at a press conference: "The probable cause of AIDS has been found!" In two years, she boldly predicted, a vaccine would probably be available that would prevent infection.
It was a great moment, because back then, contracting HIV was tantamount to a death sentence. Five to six years after infection, the immune system of people with AIDS, as the final stage of HIV infection is called, was so weakened that they died.
There is still no vaccine available today. As a result, the number of infections continued to rise worldwide. Ten years later, AIDS was the most common cause of death among 25 to 44-year-olds in the USA.
First effective therapy
The first major breakthrough in the fight against HIV only came in 1996 with the so-called triple therapy. A combination of three drugs that attack HIV at different points. This drastically reduced the number of deaths. The Swiss HIV cohort study, for which around 22,000 people with HIV have been surveyed since 1988, played a decisive role in proving the effectiveness of this therapy.
"However, these first therapies were so toxic that the quality of life of those affected was poor," said Braun. The side effects were only gradually reduced.
Swiss Statement as a liberating blow
Another major step was taken in 2008: the Swiss medical journal Schweizer Ärztezeitung published the so-called "Swiss Statement". It stated that people who are undergoing effective treatment are no longer contagious. "This was a liberating blow for those affected and their families," said Braun. Switzerland was the first country to state that HIV-positive people undergoing treatment can do without a condom to protect against HIV transmission during sex.
Today, HIV is highly treatable. People undergoing treatment are not only no longer infectious, their life expectancy is also similar to that of the general population. The vast majority of patients take a combined pill with two or three active substances per day.
371 new diagnoses in 2022
This has drastically reduced the number of infections even without vaccination. While an average of 1,300 cases per year were reported to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) in the 1990s, the figure in 2022 was 371. Men who have sex with men are proportionally the most affected.
Experts are hoping for a further reduction with the drug Prep, which protects against infection. It will be covered by health insurance in Switzerland from July 2024.
Research into a cure for Aids is also continuing, says Braun. The fact that five people worldwide have been cured so far is a kind of "proof of concept". We know how it could work. But the risks are far too high, especially in view of the good treatment options.
2030 target very ambitious
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 39 million people worldwide are living with HIV. The WHO's goal is to end the HIV epidemic by 2030
"We have the tools that could theoretically drastically reduce new infections," said Braun. In practice, however, things are more complicated. For example, the political situation or financial resources in some countries make measures against HIV, such as treatment with medication or prevention with Prep, more difficult. The WHO's goal is therefore very ambitious.
©Keystone/SDA
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