ART as a Preventive Intervention

Expanded use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) could help curb the HIV epidemic by reducing individuals’ infectivity; however, it could also help fuel the epidemic if individuals were to increase their high-risk behavior after initiating ART. To estimate how the expansion of ART coverage might influence the number of new HIV diagnoses during the next 25 years, researchers constructed an HIV transmission model, based on data from the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Drug Treatment Program. The model considered transmission only by injection drug users (IDUs) and men who have sex with men (MSM). Current conditions in British Columbia were modeled as follows: 50% of those in need of ART are receiving it, ART is initiated at CD4…