KULOB, June 9, 2009, Asia-Plus — Two other residents of the city of Kulob living with HIV have begun undergoing the antiretroviral therapy (ART), bringing the total number of Kulob HIV sufferers undergoing ART therapy to 25, Amirkhon Ismoilov, the head of epidemiology department within the Kulob HIV/AIDS Prevention Center, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
“24 of HIV sufferers undergoing ART therapy are residents of the city of Kulob and one is from Vose district,” said Ismoilov, “Another one HIV sufferer from Hamadoni district also applied to the Center for undergoing antiretroviral therapy, but unfortunately, he applied for treatment too late and he died recently.”
According to him, 35 HIV sufferers in Kulob have undergone ART therapy over the past four years; seven of them have died of different diseases and three others have suspended the ART therapy.
In all, 179 HIV sufferers have been officially registered in Khatlon’s Kulob region; 153 of them are residents of the city and the district of Kulob.
Standard antiretroviral therapy (ART) consists of the use of at least three antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease. Huge reductions have been seen in rates of death and suffering when use is made of a potent ARV regimen.
According to the World health Organization (WHO) estimates, about 33 million people are now living with HIV, of whom more than 30 million live in low- and middle-income countries. WHO estimates that at least 9.7 million of these people are in need of ART. As of December 2007, 3 million people had access to ART in low- and middle-income countries. WHO is providing countries with ongoing guidance, tools and support in delivering and scaling up ART within a public health approach.
