Sa Scientists Release Promising Hiv Cure Trial Results

South African scientists have released the findings of the first HIV cure trial in Africa with promising results showing viral suppression in 20 of women who stopped taking antiretroviral therapy ART after 18 months.

The study involved 20 women who tested positive for HIV at the Females Rising through Education, Support and Health Fresh clinic in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal, and started taking antiretroviral treatment a day after knowing their status.

The women aged between 23 and 32 and were living with HIV-1 subtype C, the most common HIV-1 strain in Southern African, which also represents 50 of infections worldwide.

They had been on antiretroviral therapy for at least six years before they joined the study, which involved stopping the therapy and started taking an intervention of three products. The study was conducted from July 2022 to January 2024.

According to the research findings, 20 of participants four women were able to control viral load to undetectable for a median of 1.5 years after they stopped taking antiretrovirals ARVs, while 80 did not control their viral load and had to restart them. Viral suppression is defined as having less than 200 copies of HIV per millilitre of blood, which helps keep the infected person healthy and prevents transmission.