National Scientific Meeting Will Address the Challenges of Adherence to HIV Therapies

researchers believe that the dangers of starting but not strictly adhering to a
combination therapy regimen can be equally serious. Experts believe that HIV, if
treated irregularly with combination antiretroviral therapy, could mutate within a matter
of weeks, making the virus resistant to current or even future medications. In addition,
the possibility that drug-resistant virus could be transmitted from one individual to
another has heightened concern about treatment adherence- And researchers believe
that recently reported combination therapy treatment failures may in some cases be
linked to failures to adhere to therapy.
Adherence concerns are also believed to play a role in patient access to care.
Concerns about the ability of patients to adhere to complex treatment regimens may
lead some health care providers to make judgments about which patients are more or
less likely to successfully take their medicines. But some of those judgments may be
based on impressions that do not accurately mirror a patient's motivation or ability to
adhere to treatment regimens. For example, some recent studies have disputed a
frequently-made assumption that individuals with a history of drug use may be less able
to adhere to antiretroviral combination regimens.
"We need to answer these important questions, about what supports are needed
to help individuals take their medicines, on a scientific rather than a speculative basis,"
said Gerald Friedland, MD, of the Yale University School of Medicine, who is co-chair
of the Adherence Conference. "The limited nature of high-quality research in this area
has caused a lack of information among some physicians and caregivers about how to
best use these therapies and how to best support patients"
About the Conference
Participants in "Adherence to New HIV Therapies: A Research Conference" will
address treatment adherence interventions in both HIV and other relevant disease
areas. The conference will bring together experts from both biomedical and behavioral
sciences to determine the current state of knowledge about drug therapy adherence,
and to develop a research agenda that will evaluate factors that contribute to or impede
adherence, measures of adherence, and potential interventions for improving HIV
therapy adherence.
The meeting is sponsored by the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research and the
National Minority AIDS Council, in collaboration with the NIH Office of AIDS Research.
The conference, which is open to the public, will be co-chaired by noted researchers
Thomas Coates, Ph.D. of the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of
California, San Francisco, and Gerald Friedland, M.D. of the Yale University School of
Medicine.
"Adherence to New HIV Therapies: A Research Conference," will open at 8:30
a m. on Thursday, November 20. Presentations will include:

2