As the world celebrates Worlds AIDS day researchers at Mbale Joint Clinical Research Center have confirmed that HIV patients who consistently use drugs as prescribed by their doctors can see their viral load drop to zero.
In an exclusive interview on the last four years of research into drug adherence amongst HIV patients with our KC reporter in Mbale, eastern Uganda, Dr David Baliluno the head of the center’s laboratory confirmed that it is possible for a patient on ARVs to test negative for HIV.
Dr Baliluno noted that in the last four year the center has not only conducted tests on over 8,000 HIV patients in the region but has closely monitored the conditions and well-being of these patients on a daily basis to find out how they are progressing. The amazing result is that over 6,000 patients have had their vial load drop to zero. The rest are very healthy with no opportunistic infections.
Dr Baliluno said their major areas of concern were now finding out how the body reacts to a combination or a single drug therapy and how the organs are affected, like the kidney, liver, pancreas, lungs and heart when the come into contact with the drugs.
He said cases of patients dying of kidney failure, pneumonia and other infections had been ruled out but declined to explain how this has come about, saying they were still conducting a number of tests.
The center serves over 14 districts in the eastern part of Uganda.