The aim of this study is to identify the follow-up problems of successful HIV therapy and to derive suitable treatment strategies. Successful therapy in this case means containing the acute infection into a “chronic” disease that can be controlled by taking tablets for the rest of the patient’s life. This has now also been possible in Africa for around 10 years. This has made it possible to almost equalize the life expectancy of HIV-infected people with that of HIV-negative people. However, as once infected people carry the virus for life, they are more susceptible to concomitant diseases such as diabetes, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, etc. As a result, the growing number of HIV-positive people with longer life expectancy requires lifelong medical care that takes into account not only the treatment of the HIV infection itself, but also the prevention and treatment of associated chronic disease conditions. This will lead to a massive increase in the need for medical care for the chronically ill in the coming years.
The long-term study, which will cover a period of 10 to 15 years, consists of a group of 1000 HIV-positive and 1000 HIV-negative people. Regular surveys on health status and related social factors will be collected, analyzed and monitored together with blood and urine tests. The focus is on people in rural communities with limited resources, as they are representative of the vast majority of HIV-infected people around the world. Thus, this study has global significance.
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New long-term study launched
1000th participant
