Question

4. When, in the summer of 1996, reports were released on the suc prote tors were faced with new problems of distribution. Protease inhibitor used as detection and lead to a great increase in disease-fighting immune cells. But no one knew if the drugs could wipe out HIV lurking in the lymph nodes. Indeed, little had been published. Attention had been focused on dramatic turnabouts, but less attention had been paid to failures, or resurgences of th virus. Since that time many more effective and costly drugs have been pro duced that are prescribed usually in combination. To date, these treatments have never been proven curative. e inhibitors in treating AIDS, both the government and clinical dire as part of a drug cocktail that can drive the HIV virus below the level of Treatments developed would cost between s1o,ooo and s20,000 year at retail. The exact price would depend on the other drugs used in the cocktail. Although most private health insurance and managed care programs cover the treatment, some are restricting its use to the advanced stages of the dis ease. The decision to treat is usually based upon laboratory tests that shov the depression in the immune system (CD4) and the amount of virus present (viral load). Indeed, there is debate as to when it is best to begin treatment with the newer cocktails. Early treatment might make HIV cells drug-resistant and leave the patient with no drugs when the virus re-emerges. Waiting for even the first symptoms to appear might take five to ten years, making clini cal trials difficult. Even today many infected individuals have no insurance or are under insured. Clinical directors estimated that they would have to double the income in order to meet the demand for the new treatments. National es timates put the total cost of treating HIV in the billions, with the average per year. There are moreover, problems with the treatment. The patient must many per day on total cost of HIV care being near $20,000 per patient

Answer 1

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a federal agency that conducts and supports health promotion, prevention, and preparedness activities in the United States with the goal of improving overall public health.

Drug cocktail is a combination of protease inhibitors taken with reverse transcriptase inhibitors, used in treating AIDS and HIV.

Nowadays a variety of HAART drug therapies are available by prescription.

The import goal behind the HAART or the drug cocktail for treating the HIV/AIDS are :

*Prevent the HIV virus from replicating and reduce the viral overload in the blood/body

*The drugs help to restore CD4 counts and immune function.

*The drugs improve the survival rate of HIV/AIDS affected cases

*Reduce the complications from HIV

*Helps to reduce the transmission of HIV to others

*Major reductions in HIV-associated morbidity and mortality

*TRansformed HIV into a chronic and manageable condition

#The regimens have been proven effective and well tolerated and are accepted as the standard treatment for HIV related health care.

#It is one of the well-tolerated treatment for HIV and AIDS, and one of the main issues behind the drug is its cost or it is highly expensive, together with the growing number of people living with HIV.

#Thus it poses an increasing financial burden on the public health systems.

#The study shows that the patients who receive the treatment show a prolonged life expectancy

# While getting the treatment with the drug cocktail continuous accurate estimations of the related costs have been important for decision making in the management of HIV infection.

#The results showing that it estimates of annual total expenditure per patient have been obtained worldwide.

*The main reason for HIV-AIDS treatment fails are due to :

#High cost (over $20,000 a year)

#Serious adverse side effects

#Patient might develop viral resistance

#Some times the patient may forget to take

It has been determined that patient characteristics, such as CD4-T cell count are good predictors of annual costs and the area need further research.

With regard to the therapy-related predictors, the total costs are linked to the treatment regimen, costs of which are directly related to drug prices and the number of ARV's used.

The variation of the therapy class from PI/r-based HAART to NNRTI-based therapy which is available as a less expensive alternative.

The total costs per patient of HIV-related health care continue to be high and it is greatly depending on the severity of the infection, comorbidity, and treatment attributes of patients.

The high cost of the regimen is thought to be the low CD$-T cell counts, resistance to at least 3 ARV's and individualized PI-based therapy.

Improvement in the adherence, as well as the development of the treatment regimens with the ARV to sustain viral suppression, despite insufficient adherence, may prevent the occurrence of a part of high-cost cases of HIV treatment and thus should be seen as a major objective in the management of HIV infection.