“A Significant Milestone”: SA Makes Groundbreaking Progress With HIV Trials in a First for Africa

• A Durban-based HIV cure trial led by UKZN's Professor Thumbi Ndung'u has produced promising results
• The trial, the first HIV cure clinical trial ever conducted on the African continent, focused exclusively on women
• The results were presented at a major international conference in San Francisco and have been described as a significant step forward

South Africa has taken a remarkable step forward in the fight against HIV, and the news is giving researchers and patients around the world real reason to feel hopeful. The UKZN College of Health Sciences shared the results of a groundbreaking HIV cure trial conducted in Durban, making it the first of its kind ever carried out on the African continent.

The findings from the UKZN trial were presented at a major international HIV conference in San Francisco, USA. Professor Thumbi Ndung'u from the University of KwaZulu-Natal led the research. He also heads up the basic and translational science work at the Africa Health Research Institute. His team made a deliberate decision to enroll only women in the trial, and for good reason. Women carry a heavy burden when it comes to HIV but are often left out of research like this, so including them was an important step in itself.

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The method they used is called combination immunotherapy. Participants were put on HIV medication very early after contracting the virus. Once the medication had the virus under control, they were given treatment to boost their immune systems. After that, they stopped their medication completely, under careful medical watch, to see if their bodies could hold the virus down on their own.

Out of the 20 women in the trial, six, which is 30%, managed to stay off HIV treatment for close to a year. Four of them, making up 20%, went the full 55 weeks of the trial without medication. What makes it even more encouraging is that those same four women have kept going without medication for an average of one and a half years since the trial ended, and doctors are still keeping a close eye on them.

Professor Ndung'u was open about the fact that the approach did not work for everyone, but said understanding why it worked for some will help scientists build better treatments in the future. Professor Busisiwe Ncama from UKZN called it a landmark achievement that gives hope to millions of people around the world.

More medical stories in the news

• Briefly News recently reported on a woman who once cleaned floors at Yale New Haven Hospital finding out she would return to the same hospital as a qualified doctor.
• A Cape Town medical team used extreme cold temperatures to destroy recurring thyroid cancer cells for the first time in South Africa.
• KZN doctors made history by removing a brain tumour through a patient's nose without a single external cut.

Source: Briefly News