Regional Research Centres

The worldview in relation to patient care has shifted from conquering diseases to improving overall wellbeing and quality of life. We examined treatment aspirations among people living with HIV (PLHIV). METHODS In all, 2389 PLHIV were surveyed in the 25-country 2019 Positive Perspectives Study. Descriptive and multivariable analyses were used to explore attitudes towards treatment. RESULTS Participants were from: Northern America (USA, Canada), 21.8% (520/2389); Europe, 46.8% (1119/2389); and other international regions, 31.4% (750/2389). Factors associated with some level of dissatisfaction with HIV medication among those otherwise fully satisfied with their HIV management included being on a multi-tablet regimen (AOR=2.76; 95% CI: 1.93-3.96), reporting polypharmacy (AOR=2.10; 95% CI: 1.45-3.03), and experiencing side effects from current HIV medication (AOR=2.12; 95% CI: 1.49-3.02). Of seven improvements to HIV medications assessed, the percentage ranking each attribute, as the first or second most important, was: 'reduced long-term impact on my body' (46.7%); 'longer-lasting medicine so I don't have to take it every day' (43.1%); 'fewer side effects' (40.5%); 'less HIV medicine each day but just as effective' (25.4%); 'less chance of affecting other medicines' (21.6%); 'no food restrictions/ requirements' (14.0%); and 'smaller pills' (8.7%). Overall, 77.1% (1842/2389) believed 'future advances in HIV treatment will improve my overall wellbeing ', 72.2% (1726/2389) were 'open to taking an HIV treatment composed of fewer medicines', while 54.7% (1306/2389) expressed openness towards longer-acting (non-daily) HIV medication. Compared to those not fully satisfied with either their HIV medication or management, those fully satisfied with both reported significantly higher prevalence of optimal treatment adherence (89.2% [372/417] vs 69.5% [763/1098]) and optimal overall health (70.3% [293/417] vs 47.8% [525/1098]) (all p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Many PLHIV perceived gaps in their care and aspired for novel treatments. Providing flexible treatment options can help patients across the spectrum of unmet needs and improve health-related quality of life. Europe 1119 1.27 (0.98-1.64) 0.073 1.25 (0.99-1.58) 0.

Reports of HIV/AIDS cases attributed to sexual transmission from foreigners were published in the USSR in the mid of 80s. In the initial decade of the epidemic, the subtype B was found in men who have sex with men (MSM) population and several non-B subtypes were identified in heterosexual persons. The first case of HIV infection in intravenous drug users (IVDU) was reported in 1993 and since then a specific subtype A and its recombinants invaded the intravenous drug users (IVDU) populations of the region with the highest rate in Estonia, Russia and Ukraine. The concentrated HIV epidemic in IVDUs is still the main problem in the Eastern Europe; however, the rate of heterosexual transmission is increasing and many evidences of HIV prevalence rise in MSM are published. UNAIDS estimations for the number of HIV-positive persons living in the region range from 980,000 to 1,300,000 but distribution of HIV-cases is uneven and the prevalence rate of HIV infection in separate regions is over 1%. Mass seasonal labour migration from Central Asia and Caucasian republics to Russia transmits HIV to these countries. Prevention programs in the region are limited, and ART coverage is not more than 20% of the total HIV-positive population. The lack of concern about the epidemic, absence of effective national strategies and limited allocated resources are the main barriers to prevention and care in many countries. Local conflicts, rising religiosity and discrimination are adverse factors. The near-term forecast for the epidemic in the region is pessimistic and further international advocacy is needed to improve the situation.

7‐11 November 2010, Tenth International Congress on Drug Therapy in HIV Infection, Glasgow, UK

An explosive epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has been documented among injecting drug users (IDUs) in the former Soviet Union republics. In 1999, the two largest local IDU outbreaks of HIV-1 infection in the Russian Federation were registered in the Moscow and Irkutsk regions, where 13,004 HIV-1 cases were identified (44% of the total number of HIV-1 infections in Russia in 1999). To study the prevailing genetic variants and to estimate the genetic diversity of HIV-1 in these outbreaks, 60 samples from Moscow (n = 36) and from Irkutsk (n = 24) were analyzed using the gag/env heteroduplex mobility assay, and the env gp120 V3 encoding regions obtained from 23 individuals were sequenced. Both virus populations were highly homogeneous (the means of pairwise nucleotide distance were 1.75 +/- 0.83 and 2.35 +/- 1.59 for Irkutsk and Moscow, respectively), and similar to the subtype A viruses obtained earlier from IDUs in the former Soviet Union. The subtype A HIV-1 variant thus dominates in the largest HIV-1 outbreaks among IDUs in the Russian Federation.