New England Journal of Medicine
http://content.nejm.org/current.shtml
August 11, 2011  Vol. 365 No. 6
http://www.nejm.org/toc/nejm/365/6

Editorial
Antiretroviral Treatment as Prevention
S.M. Hammer

Extract
“…Antiretroviral therapy is by no means perfect and is not the ultimate answer to controlling and ending the HIV epidemic. Adverse events, emergence of drug-resistant viral strains, maintenance of adherence, sustainability, and cost are just some of the concerns. However, this is precisely the wrong time to limit access to antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings, since we have the tools in hand to maintain or restore health in infected persons and reduce transmission to their sexual partners.

Aggressive programs to diagnose and treat HIV infection as part of a comprehensive care package and multiple approaches to the prevention of transmission that have been tested in well-designed clinical trials have the potential to preserve health and control the epidemic until a safe and effective HIV vaccine is a reality.”