The World Health Organisation (WHO) today is changing its tune on HIV drugs, asking that antiretroviral meds be handed out sooner and that HIV-positive women continue to breastfeed as long as they or their babies are on the drugs.

On the eve of World AIDS Day (1 December), the WHO also urged countries to ditch the widely used drug, Stavudine, or d4T, because it can cause long-term, irreversible side-effects such as numbness of limbs or loss of body fat. The agency recommended that countries phase in equally effective but less toxic alternatives, such as Zidovudine or Tenofovir.

“These new recommendations are based on the most up to date, available data,” said Hiroki Nakatani, WHO’s assistant director general for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, in a statement. “Their widespread adoption will enable many more people in high-burden areas to live longer and healthier lives.”

The WHO increased the suggested minimum T-cell threshold at which patients should start antiretroviral therapy — from 200 CD4 cells/mm³ up to 350 cells/mm³ — and recommended that drugs should be provided to HIV-positive expectant mothers earlier in their pregnancy to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. For the first time, the WHO also encouraged new mothers carrying the virus to continue breastfeeding for up to a year, provided that the mothers or babies are taking antiretrovirals.

The arguments in favor of starting HIV therapy earlier are outlined in the August 2009 issue of Nature Medicine.

Around 33.4 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS, according to a report released last week, but fewer people are dying from the virus owing to the increasing prevalence of life-saving meds.

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