WHO Announces 3 X 5 Plans

This article originally appeared in HIV & AIDS treatment in practice, an email newsletter for healthcare workers and community-based organisations in resource-limited settings published by NAM between 2003 and 2014.
This article is more than 21 years old.

WHO unveils plans to treat 3 million by 2005

The World Health Organisation has published details of its plan to bring antiretroviral treatment to 3 million people living with HIV by the end of 2005.

http://nam10/admin/components/asp/d4t/3tc/nevirapine%20will%20be%20preferred%20option%20for%203%20x%205

Glossary

pilot study

Small-scale, preliminary study, conducted to evaluate feasibility, time, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the design of a future full-scale research project.

 

community setting

In the language of healthcare, something that happens in a “community setting” or in “the community” occurs outside of a hospital.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) brings together the resources of ten United Nations organisations in response to HIV and AIDS.

International experts have agreed that a triple combination of d4T (stavudine), 3TC (lamivudine) and nevirapine is likely to be the best option for swift implementation of antiretroviral treatment in resource-limited settings. The recommendation was agreed at a WHO and UNAIDS-sponsored consultation in Zambia in mid-November, and follows a similar recommendation from a consensus meeting sponsored by Medecins sans Frontieres in September.

Community mobilisation key to success of 3 x 5

The WHO 3 x 5 plan envisages that community-based organisations, including groups of people living with HIV, will play a key role in scaling up treatment. This is not just a measure to plug gaps in the health services of heavily affected countries, but a response to evidence from early pilot programmes. These programmes have demonstrated that community participation is a key element in ensuring the acceptability of treatment. Making treatment part of the social fabric rather than a hidden enterprise is the only way to ensure long-term adherence.