Treatment of HIV in West Africa.

Essay by crakbaby23University, Bachelor'sA+, December 2005

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West Africa is universally known as one of the poorest regions in Africa. The people in this area are steeped in traditional ways and are prone to using traditional method of treating disease with insurgence of HIV in this region. The key to control the disease is embedded in educating the people about the disease and the medical options used to treat and control the disease in order to lessen the impact of the disease.

People with advanced HIV infections are vulnerable to infection and malignancies that are called opportunistic infection because they take advantage of the opportunity offered by our weakened immune system. Highly active anti-retro virus therapy (HAART) can reduce the amount of HIV in someone's body and restore the immune system. The introduction of HAART has dramatically reduced the incidence of opportunistic infection among HIV possible people who have received these drugs. Yet the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections remain essential.

Providing prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections, not only to help HIV positive people to live longer, healthier lives, it can also prevent Tuberculosis (TB) and other transmissible opportunistic infections from spreading among the population.

West Africa, the poorest region in the world is preparing to treat 400,000 HIV positive individuals with anti-retro viral therapy within the next three years. Combination anti-retro viral therapy (HAART) has helped prolong the life of many HIV positive individuals and has delayed the progression of full blown AIDS. The challenge clinician is choosing the right drug combination for each individual. One draw back to the use is that the associated side effects that may increase the risk of other illnesses such as heart disease.

According to AidsInfo.gov "Atazanavir also knows as Reyataz, is a type of anti-retro viral medicine called a protease inhibitor...