YRG Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), Chennai and National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune have been the two centres selected for a  multinational clinical study conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) a global partnership dedicated to reducing the transmission of HIV through cutting-edge biomedical, behavioural, and structural interventions.

The study, known as HPTN 052, was designed to evaluate whether immediate versus delayed use of ART by HIV-infected individuals would reduce transmission of HIV to their HIV-uninfected partners and potentially benefit the HIV-infected individual as well. At YRG CARE the study took place under the under the supervision of Prof. Suniti Solomon, director, YRG Care.

YRG CARE has been providing clinical services to HIV patients from the beginning of HIV epidemic in India. Prof. Suniti Solomon and her team first detected HIV in India when she was a Professor of Microbiology at Madras Medical College.

Currently YRG CARE provides medical and psychosocial care for more than 17,000 HIV infected individuals and is a major referral centre for HIV care in South India. The centre also conducts several biomedical research studies on HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases in collaboration with National Institutes of Health, USA and several national and international research institutions and Universities.

The therapy administered reduces the HIV transmission from infected patients to their sexual partners and also the early treatment benefits reduces morbidity and mortality. The study results are also giving a further fillip to administering early treatment, stated officials on condition of anonymity.

The participants began with anti retroviral therapy and in addition to receiving HIV primary care were given drugs like atazanavir, didanosine, efavirenz, emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, lamivudine, lopinavir/ritonavir, nevirapine, stavudine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and zidovudine/lamivudine.

The officials pointed that the  challenges encountered during this trial at centres in India included the enrolment and long-term follow up of serodiscordant couples. The results of the trials are important to help improve both HIV treatment and prevention.

The most serious issue to handle the control and prevention of HIV is to create an awareness and impart education to the population, they stated.

Prof. Solomon, in her earlier published report on HIV in India,said “HIV will be able to jolt the health system awake and pave the way to holistic treatment. Experiences from around the world clearly show that patients and their families require extensive education on nutrition, stress reduction, and exercise, as well as counselling and emotional support, to improve their quality of life. The country should begin to invest in promoting good practices in HIV/AIDS Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT), use of related drugs, routine clinical approaches, and relevant treatment guidelines. India also should promote a change in attitudes toward HIV/AIDS. It is a shame that HIV infected persons continue to live in a secret world, hoping to shield themselves from the stigma, scorn, and discrimination of the members of their community by not talking about the infection.”