In 2006, the CDC recommended that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested for HIV at least once. Yet only a year before, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) had not found enough evidence in favor of routine testing and instead stated that such decisions should be made by doctors on a case-by-case basis.
However, within the last seven years, new scientific studies have emerged demonstrating solid progress in HIV treatment and prevention. For instance, early treatment of HIV has the potential to cut the rate of transmission to an uninfected partner by 96 percent. And just last month, the FDA approved the promising new anti-HIV combination drug, Truvada, as a preventive agent that can be used by HIV-negative people who are at high risk of infection.
Perhaps that s why it is expected that the Task Force will revise their previous recommendation for routine screening some time before the end of the year. And if it does, insurers will have to cover the testing in accordance with the Affordable Health Care Act.
According to ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom, the timing of this initiative cannot be a coincidence. As was the case with hepatitis C several months ago, he says, the implementation of an expanded screening policy followed a major pharmaceutical breakthrough. In that instance, studies showed that the infection could effectively be cured using two new antiviral drugs. Now, with HIV, recent discoveries that antiretroviral therapy can largely prevent the transmission of the virus have no doubt spurred this action. These cases serve as perfect examples of how pharmaceutical innovation can drastically alter the course of diseases, leading to useful policy changes.
