Tanzania stands a chance to be an HIV-free generation.

Tanzania stands a chance to be an HIV-free generation, if the current progress made including timely use of antiretroviral therapy, would be maintained and enhanced as researchers and scientists continue working to get cure of the disease around the globe.

Although not a cure, ART is a treatment for HIV/Aids which can increase life expectancy and reduce opportunistic infections. Recent studies have also shown that ART also reduces the likelihood of transmission of the virus and contributes to prevention.

In addition, a 2011 treatment as prevention study determined that an HIV-infected person who begins treatment early reduces the risk of transmission by up to 96 percent.

Speaking at a session designed to review the state-of –the-art of the major question in antiretroviral therapy (ART), when to start therapy and what regimens to start hosted by PEPFAR in Dar es Salaam, senior program management specialist (HIV) USAID, Dr. Patrick Swai lauded PEPFAR’s partnership with Tanzania saying the success achieved so far gives Tanzania hope that it can achieve an AIDS-free generation.

The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) hosted the conference at the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s Office in Dar es Salaam titled “ART Controversies and challenges: When to start, What to start?

During the recorded presentation, Dr. Paul Sax (MD), Clinical Director of the HIV program, division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts highlighted the significant progress made in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

He said since its introduction, ART viral suppression rate, which is the ability of drug’s therapy to suppress the virus, has risen from 37 percent in 1996 to 87 percent in 2010. The improvement was made possible to drug advances that include introduction of new and less toxic ART drugs and improved treatment options.

Dr. Sax explained though early intervention had a huge impact on containing the diseases, availability of financial and human resources for implementation must also be considered in the debate of when to initiate treatment and which combination of drugs to use adding that such factors would vary from one country to another.

The conference included a recorded video from the international AIDS 2012 conference held in Washington D.C. during July and a question and answer session conducted by a panel of experts which consisted of Dr. Richard Banda, Medical Officer with WHO Tanzania, and Dr. Patrick Swai, Senior program management specialist (HIV) USAID.

In Tanzania PEPFAR works with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Global fund to provide life-serving ARV treatment for more than 300,000 men, women and children, and provide care and support for more than 1.2 million Tanzanians, including more than 360,000 orphans and vulnerable children.