AIDS Education and Training Centers National Coordinating Resource Center (AETC NCRC)

I have been working on website accessibility for many years in my role as Production Manager at the UCSF Center for HIV Information. Despite that experience, I still encounter problems that confound me. I recently reached out to an accessibility expert for ideas on how to manage a particularly difficult compliance problem.

Researchers at the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections presented results from a randomized double-blind, double-dummy switch study of TAF/FTC. Over 660 patients with virologic suppression on TDF/FTC-containing 3-drug regimens were either switched to TAF/FTC (200/10 mg with boosted PIs, 200/25 mg without boosters) or continued on TDF/FTC; the background third agents were not changed. At 48 weeks, 94.3% of TAF/FTC recipients and 93% of TDF/FTC recipients maintained HIV RNA suppression; the difference was not significant.

I would like to start this new year introducing myself to the AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC) community.  I had the pleasure of joining the AETC National Coordinating Resource Center (NCRC) as a Health Educator in December 2015.  I look forward to using my skill set as a Certified Health Educator Specialist and seasoned patient navigator/linkage to care coordinator (LTCC) to provide a perspective based on direct interaction and delivery of care to clients from another standpoint in the healthcare team.

The prevailing opinion among experts regarding the optimal CD4 T-cell count at which to start patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) has shifted several times during the evolution of HIV treatment. These shifts reflect attempts to strike a balance between preventing HIV-associated illness and death and minimizing medication-related toxicity. Two large randomized controlled clinical trials, the START study and the TEMPRANO study, now demonstrate that earlier treatment with ART is most beneficial to boost immune recovery and prevent clinical events.