HIV

Spotlight on research

Dedicated to raising awareness and promoting prevention and research, every 1 December World AIDS Day highlights the many issues surrounding HIV-AIDS nationally and internationally. For 2018, the United Nations chose “Live life positively—know your HIV status” as the day’s theme, with a campaign focusing on HIV testing.

Interesting researches

Vlog 13 #Jeroenonderzoekt

PrEP is a pill that can prevent an HIV infection. A wonderful example of an effective tool.

HIV prevention

One key strategy in HIV-AIDS prevention, alongside condom use, is the early detection and treatment of infections. The Netherlands systematically screens groups at particular risk.

Hiv and aids

Sex between men is the principal source of HIV infection. Eighty per cent of those living with the virus are male, with men who have sex with men the group most at risk. HIV is most common in the 25-50 age group.

In 2018 about 70 per cent of the 37.9 million people worldwide infected with HIV live in Africa. An estimated 23,100 people in the Netherlands are living with HIV/AIDS. Although the number of new infections is decreasing gradually, every year about a  thousand people are diagnosed as HIV-positive in the Netherlands: in 2018 969 new cases were reported; 1015 cases in 2017. Unfortunately, some 45 per cent of them seek medical help too late. As a result, the effects of HIV/AIDS still claim more than 40 lives annually in the Netherlands.

Research results

Research into the cost-effectiveness of a so-called “adherence-improving self-management strategy” (AIMS) for HIV has shown that this intervention is both cheaper and more beneficial than regular care.

Ongoing research

AMPrEP, the Amsterdam PrEP Project, is a study into the utility and cost-effectiveness of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) therapy for HIV prevention in the Netherlands, as well as user compliance. The so-called HIV-prevention pill has recently become cheaper.