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A new milestone has been made in the fight against HIV and AIDS that can see individuals who test positive live without the burden of taking anti-retroviral medicine.
The research pioneered by Kenyan-born researcher Thumbi Ndung'u has showed that those who are put on ARVs immediately after being positively diagnosed can attain up to 84 per cent suppression of the virus.
After taking ARVs for some time, three years at most, a patient can stop taking the medication and still have a strong immunity.
The individual will lead a normal life and even if he engages in sexual activities, there will be very minimal chances (16 per cent) that the negative partner will be infected.
It is a development that increases hope and relief for discordant couples who seek to have children the natural way.
"If a patient is put on ARV therapy in the early stages of the disease, in two or three years' time, he can be 'deliberately' withdrawn from the medication and still have a strong immunity," said Prof Ndung'u who works in South Africa.
Ndung'u said the research, which is ready for human trials in a few months, has been developed for the last three years where young women who were diagnosed with the virus in South Africa were put on ARV therapy immediately.
Its main purpose, he said, comes in the wake of revelations that dependence on ARV has become also a health hazard to people living with the virus.
Reports have indicated that HIV positive persons are at a greater risk of heart attack, kidney failure and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for using ARVs for a long time.
In addition, some individuals after a long spell of treatment acquire resistance to the drugs, which eventually makes them prone to opportunistic diseases.
"Putting one on ARVs early is meant to reduce the virus from multiplying and prevent the immune system from getting damaged. Starting early means we will have a 'functional cure' but we have to understand that there is no cure at the moment," Ndung'u said.
In fact, Ndung'u, the Scientific Director at Victor Daitz Chair in HIV/TB Research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Univeristy said that an HIV vaccine will not be ready soon.
"Coming up with a vaccine is very expensive. It requires one to follow up a patient for a very long time. It is unlikely that we will have a vaccine in the next five years. And that is us being optimistic," said Ndung'u at the HIV conference going on in Nairobi that opened on Sunday.
He added: "There are more than enough reasons to push for an HIV cure and starting treatment early is one of them. Even if we have very effective medicine, not everyone will take it."
One of the target groups Ndung'u hopes the Government will adopt this cure mechanism is for the adolescents who currently account for up to 30 per cent of new infections and children born with the virus.
According to the National Aids Control Council report 2016, 14 teenagers die daily of HIV complications with 98 others getting infected daily.
According to the Ministry of Education, 180,000 adolescents in schools are HIV positive. Only 46 per cent of female and 58 per cent of male adolescents respectively get tested for HIV.
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