The Truth about HIV

HIV/AIDS has claimed around 35 million lives worldwide and on Thursday 25 May, BBC documentary

bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08rvdwp/the-truth-about-14-hiv">The Truth about HIV showcased how UCL scientists are leading the way in the treatment and prevention of HIV, both in the UK and across the globe.

The programme charted the ground-breaking progress that has been made since the 1980s through the combination of a timely public health campaign, the development and distribution of antiretroviral therapy (ART), and more recently, Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Interviews with Professors Deenan Pillay, Greg Towers (UCL Infection & Immunity) and Dr Sheena McCormack (MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL) explained these advances and also highlighted the issues that are yet to be overcome.

Visiting the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in South Africa, presenter Chris van Tulleken (UCL Infection and Immunity) illustrated how a combination of embarrassment, fear as well as local attitudes to safe sex and testing are still leading to unnecessary deaths.

AHRI is based in KwaZulu-Natal, the heart of South Africa's TB and HIV co-epidemic, and the province that has the highest HIV burden in the world. 7 million people live with HIV in South Africa, and there are still 200,000 AIDS related deaths every year. Deenan Pillay (Professor in Virology, UCL Infection & Immunity, and Director of AHRI) explained how the Institute's ground-breaking trial successfully diagnosed 92% of those infected with HIV. However, only 47% went on to access care despite drugs and resources being plentiful, illustrating how behaviour change is the next key challenge in defeating the epidemic. As Professor Pillay summed up, overcoming the epidemic 'requires an understanding of society, as well as individuals, as well as medicine, and without an understanding of all those, we will never defeat it.'

AHRI brings together experts in social science, population and clinical research, bacteriology, virology and immunology in order to gain insight into this challenge and devise ways of tackling it. Undertaking this multidisciplinary research at the heart of the epidemic means findings can be translated into improved health quickly and effectively.

The UCL Research Coordination Office (RCO) played a key part in securing UCL's position as the UK academic partner for AHRI and Sam Mardell now works as the Strategic Partnership Manager, supporting the UCL/AHRI partnership. Please contact Sam if you would like to find out more about AHRI and how you could support its ground-breaking work. 

Sam Mardell 

Strategic Partnership Manager AHRI/UCL

Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 6320

Email: s.mardell@ucl.ac.uk