FOOTPRINTS painted in bright colours on the floor pass through the bustle of the Themba Lethu clinic in Johannesburg. They lead to a room where every week dozens of men are circumcised. Heterosexual men who get the snip cut their chances of contracting HIV by more than half, since the foreskin is delicate and tears easily. In South Africa, the country that has the world’s largest number of HIV-infected people, such initiatives can save a lot of lives.
Even more important has been a huge expansion in the number of infected people receiving antiretroviral drugs. These not only keep people alive but also suppress the virus, making its carriers less contagious. In September South Africa became one of the first African states to adopt a “test and treat” protocol whereby anyone infected with the virus can get the drugs immediately, instead of waiting until the immunological symptoms of full-blown AIDS appear. By this time the patient may have infected other people.
Some researchers predict that several African countries will soon achieve “epidemic control”, meaning that fewer people are newly infected each year than die of the disease. New data from the American...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2gPKeEM
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