AIDS Cure One Step Closer

CLINICAL TRIAL: HIV PATIENTS CAN CONTROL THE VIRUS WITHOUT USING ANTIRETROVIRALS

- Masoka Dube

Health advocacy groups have welcomed the HIV-AIDS clinical trial showing HIV patients can control the virus without using antiretroviral therapy (ART).

The groups were reacting to recent HIV cure research that was conducted in Durban by University of KwaZulu-Natal.

UKZN professor Thumbi Ndungu, the director for basic & translational science at Africa Health Research Institute said the "groundbreaking" HIV cure trial conducted has demonstrated promising results in achieving ART-free virus control.

The trial showed that 20% of participants remain off ART and are virally suppressed after one-and-a-half years, Ndungu said.