AIDS: Older Men Now At Risk Of Drug Resistance

The United Nations has issued a report revealing that older persons on AIDS treatment are developing resistance and requiring treatment for other illnesses such as tuberculosis, TB, and hepatitis.
This development was contained in a new report issued by UNAIDS yesterday, as part of activities to mark the 2016 World AIDS Day. Although, more than 18 million people now have access to life-saving AIDS treatment, 1.2 million more than at the end of last year, the UNAIDS stated: “As people with HIV grow older, they are at risk of developing longterm side-effects from HIV treatment, developing drug resistance and requiring treatment for other illnesses such as tuberculosis and Hepatitis C."
In the report on the AIDS pandemic, which has infected 78 million people and killed 35 million since it began in the 1980s, UNAIDS said the consistently strong scale-up of treatment has seen annual AIDS-related deaths drop by 45 per cent to 1.1 million in 2015 from a peak of about two million in 2005.
The report also cited data from South Africa showing that young women who become infected with HIV often catch the virus from older men. However, it said prevention was vital to ending the epidemic in young women and the cycle of HIV infection needs to be broken.
Reacting to the development, Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe said: “Young women are facing a triple threat. They  are at high risk of HIV infection, have low rates of HIV testing, and have poor adherence to treatment.” But, as more HIV-positive people live longer, the challenges of caring for them as they get older, of preventing the virus spreading and of reducing new infections are tough, UNAIDS said, even though drugs can reduce virus levels in a patient’s blood to near zero and significantly reduce the risk of passing it on.
“The progress we have made is remarkable, particularly around treatment, but it is also incredibly fragile,” said Sidibe.
With detailed data showing some of the many complexities of the HIV epidemic, the report found that people are particularly vulnerable to HIV at certain points in their lives. It called for “life-cycle” approach to offer help and prevention measures for everyone at every stage of life.
In 2015, there were 5.8 million people aged over 50 living with HIV – more than ever before. UNAIDS said that if treatment targets are reached – the U.N. is aiming to have 30 million HIV positive people on treatment by 2020 – that number will soar.