Levinia Crooks, CEO ASHM
Clinical posts from members and guests of the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) from various international medical and scientific conferences on HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis, and sexual health.
WHO WHO Resistance Guidelines Development Workshop
This WHO consultation followed on immediately from the CDC. This was one of the data collection workshops aimed at feeding into the development of the new WHO resistance testing guidelines. I was the only person in the audience from South East Asia and the Western Pacific. But a survey can be completed on line Insert website.
What was important here is the trade-off between affordable therapy for most people versus switching (and abandoning 1st line therapy). Willem Venter, from South Africa, cautioned against switching, and introduced the practicality that this would not be affordable, if 85% of people were benefiting from that therapy. Jonathan Shapiro questioned the 15% versus 85% assumption about resistance, and suggested there might need to be more consideration of this.
I raised the issue that there was no-one in the audience from ESA and the Pacific, including Australia. The consultation is open online and I was told consultation would come from the WPRO and SEPRO offices.
http://www.who.int/hiv/topics/drugresistance/en/