Re: When HIV+ People Should Consider Engaging in Care and Treatment

[Guest guest]

PI is a well respected organisation but I find this statement

disturbing in the decision to only present one half of the arguments

and then use language to make it all sound reasonable.

ie -

" at least start before 500 " should be " start

before "

" careful review " should just be

" review " .

" Some evidence shows " means that " some evidence

doesn't "

" may " decrease etc means we don't know.

PIs history has been to give people the information they need to

make their own decisions, and they are now giving out opinion rather

than evidence and worse than this, obscuring other information.

At some point in the future, the evidence may be sufficiently

strong to recommend treatment above CD4 500 for everyone ready for

treatment. The fact is that it isn't there now. This is why the START

trial is running - to get real evidence from randomisd study, that

will also infomra people of the risks, including side effects and

resistance.

Yes, we need wider testing and earlier treatment - not the

average CD4 count at less that 200 in most countries. The jump to put

everyone on treatment at any CD4 count does not follow.

Some experts may say yes, some say no, some say we need to get

the evidence.

Simon

<snip>

http://www.projectinform.org/info/when/index.shtml

*

Based upon a careful review of currently available data,

Project Inform believes that all HIV-positive people who are ready to

begin treatment should start at least before their CD4 counts fall

below 500.

*

Some evidence shows that starting treatment above 500 CD4s -

or during acute infection to lower the chance of a low nadir CD4 -

may decrease damage to the immune system, promote better longer-term

health outcomes, and extend a person's life.