Stop sidi!

Svetska zdravstvena organizacija objavila je uoči 1. decembra, dana borbe protiv side u svetu, novu strategiju za pobedu nad tom bolešću. Ona, između ostalog, obuhvata i značajno povećanje broja pacijenata koji bi bili podvrgnuti terapiji savremenim preparatima.

Čujte prilog

At the moment, four million people around the world receive anti-retroviral drugs. There's another five million who need them but don't get them.

The WHO recommendations on when to start treatment for HIV would mean an extra three to five million people would be added to that waiting list. The WHO wants people who have HIV to start drugs before their immune systems get so weak they start displaying symptoms. A study recently published in the medical journal The Lancet showed starting treatment at the newly recommended level could increase survival by nearly 70%.

It would also add significantly to the cost on health care systems. In South Africa, which has one of the biggest HIV burdens in the world, currently fewer than half of the people who should be receiving HIV drugs get them.

Poor health infrastructure is a common problem for nearly all developing countries. Putting HIV-positive people on drugs earlier would significantly reduce the cost to health systems of treating opportunistic infections - illnesses which take hold while the immune system is weak. It would also greatly improve life expectancy of HIV patients, with repercussions for families and the workforce.

The WHO is still working out how much it would cost countries to improve their treatment regimes, but it won't be cheap.

Madeleine Morris, BBC News

Čujte reči

anti-retroviral drugs
lekovi protiv infekcija koje izaziva virus HIV i drugi virusi koji "ulaze" u ćelije, inkorporirajući u njih svoj genetski kod

an extra three to five million people would be added to that waiting list
još tri do pet miliona ljudi bi bilo dodato na listu čekanja

displaying symptoms
pokazuje simptome

add significantly to the cost on
povećava troškove, dodatno opterećuje budžete

which has one of the biggest HIV burdens in the world
ima jedan od najvećih procenata zaraženih, nosi jedan od najvećih tereta

HIV-positive people
ljudi koji imaju HIV virus ali se on ne razvije u bolest

opportunistic infections
infekcije koje nastaju kada je nečiji imuni sistem oslabljen

greatly improve life expectancy of
može značajno produžiti život (očekivani životni vek) pacijenta

repercussions
konsekvence, posledice