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HIV Elimination as the Goal by 2030 - 2nd Edition

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A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Virology and Viral Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 March 2024) | Viewed by 3124

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Our society constantly faces important public health crises, potentially affecting millions of people, and, often, many lives are lost. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of these crises, mobilizing the global community over the last forty years. Over that period, huge progress has been made to reduce the burden of the disease by improving the diagnosis as well as the access to more potent antiretroviral drugs and engaging in better monitoring of this life-long treatment. Building on these successes, UNAIDS has launched ambitious initiatives and targets, such as the 90–90–90 targets, and designed transformative actions to end the global AIDS epidemic by 2030. Although the impressive scale-up of antiretroviral treatments over the past 20 years, especially in the most affected regions of the world (e.g., sub-Saharan Africa), makes such a goal achievable, there are still important challenges, including, but not limited to, the sustained access to this treatment, the impact of new emerging or reemerging infections, the need for innovative diagnostics and treatment monitoring strategies, specificities of key populations, treatment failures and the danger of drug resistance, aging and new needs for people on treatment, etc.

In this Special Issue, I welcome your recent research and results that present linkages with this ambitious goal of HIV/AIDS elimination by the next decade. I am convinced that this Special Issue will help inform the global community about the ongoing successes and the remaining challenges towards achieving this goal.

Dr. Avelin F. Aghokeng
Guest Editor

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Keywords

HIV/AIDS
elimination
95/95/95 UNAIDS targets
antiretroviral
viral load suppression
drug resistance
aging
key populations
co-infection

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 6121 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Current Trends of HIV Infection in the Russian Federation

by Daria Ogarkova, Anastasiia Antonova, Anna Kuznetsova, Ruslan Adgamov, Andrei Pochtovyi, Denis Kleimenov, Elena Tsyganova, Vladimir Gushchin, Aleksandr Gintsburg and Aleksei Mazus

Viruses 2023, 15(11), 2156; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15112156 - 26 Oct 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1210

Abstract

Russia remains one of the areas most affected by HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The aim of this study was to analyze HIV infection indicators and study trends in Russia using data from the Federal Statistic Form No. 61 “Information about HIV infection”. HIV incidence, prevalence, HIV testing and mortality rates (from 2011 to 2022), and treatment success rates (from 2016 to 2022) were analyzed. These indicators were compared across different federal districts (FDs) of Russia. The findings revealed a significant downward trend in HIV incidence, while a significant upward trend was observed for HIV prevalence. The mortality rate has stabilized since 2018. The coverage of HIV testing and antiretroviral therapy increased over time. The number of people living with HIV-1 (PLWH) with a suppressed viral load in Russia as a whole varied between 72% and 77% during the years under observation. The Siberian and Ural federal districts recorded the highest HIV incidence, while the North Caucasian FD reported the lowest. An increase in HIV testing coverage was observed across all FDs. This comprehensive evaluation of HIV infection indicators within the regional context contributes to the timely implementation of measures aimed at preventing the spread of HIV. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue HIV Elimination as the Goal by 2030 - 2nd Edition)

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Review

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34 pages, 3884 KiB

Open AccessReview

The Application of Prodrugs as a Tool to Enhance the Properties of Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors

by Lívia da Rocha Fernandes, Juliana Romano Lopes, Andressa Francielli Bonjorno, João Lucas Bruno Prates, Cauê Benito Scarim and Jean Leandro Dos Santos

Viruses 2023, 15(11), 2234; https://doi.org/10.3390/v15112234 - 09 Nov 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1397

Abstract

Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is an effective treatment for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which has transformed the highly lethal disease, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), into a chronic and manageable condition. However, better methods need to be developed for enhancing patient access and adherence to therapy and for improving treatment in the long term to reduce adverse effects. From the perspective of drug discovery, one promising strategy is the development of anti-HIV prodrugs. This approach aims to enhance the efficacy and safety of treatment, promoting the development of more appropriate and convenient systems for patients. In this review, we discussed the use of the prodrug approach for HIV antiviral agents and emphasized nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. We comprehensively described various strategies that are used to enhance factors such as water solubility, bioavailability, pharmacokinetic parameters, permeability across biological membranes, chemical stability, drug delivery to specific sites/organs, and tolerability. These strategies might help researchers conduct better studies in this field. We also reported successful examples from the primary therapeutic classes while discussing the advantages and limitations. In this review, we highlighted the key trends in the application of the prodrug approach for treating HIV/AIDS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue HIV Elimination as the Goal by 2030 - 2nd Edition)

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