Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV/AIDS

Standard highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) consists of the use of at least three antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease.

This HAART standard typically consist of two Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors, NRTI and one Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor, NNRTI combination. Huge reductions have been seen in rates of death and suffering when use is made of a potent ARV regimen.

About 33.4 million people are now living with HIV, of whom more than 30 million live in low- and middle-income countries.

WHO estimates that at least 9.7 million of these people are in need of ART. As of the end of 2008, 4 million people had access to ART in low- and middle-income countries.

WHO is providing countries with ongoing guidance, tools and support in delivering and scaling up ART within a public health approach.