WHO has issued new guidelines focusing on treatment, prevention, and infant feeding in the context of HIV infection, based on the most recent scientific evidence. The key recommendations are published today, and the full guidelines are anticipated to be released in early 2010. The antiretroviral therapy (ART) guidelines were first published in 2002, summarized and simplified in 2003, and updated in 2006.
Highlights of the new recommendations include starting ART earlier in adults and adolescents, delivery and use of better-tolerated and more conveniently administered antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), and longer use of ARVs to lower the risk for mother-to-child HIV transmission. For the first time, the new guidelines advocate use of ARVs by HIV-positive mothers or their infants while breast-feeding to prevent HIV transmission.
