In their study published in The Lancet, researchers from the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit and Imperial College in London, and centres in Uganda and Zimbabwe, have expressed the opinion that the lives of countless HIV patients can be saved by using a simple, cheap, drug treatment – which though endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO), is not being adequately administered.

Noting that the preventive use of the inexpensive, commonly-prescribed antibiotic ‘co-trimoxazole’ – marketed as Septrim, Bactrim and other brands – dramatically reduced the HIV mortality rate by almost 50 percent in African patients, the study highlights that presently HIV is being combated by the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) alone, which extends a patient’s life.

The findings of the study were based on the investigation of 3,179 people in Uganda and Zimbabwe, who were administered either ART or co-trimoxazole alongside the anti-HIV drugs. It was found that the mortality rate of HIV patients who were given the antibiotic fell by 59 percent during the first three months, as against their ART-only counterparts.

Further reporting that, the reduced risk of mortality was 35 percent overall at the 72-week stage, the Lancet paper suggested that co-trimoxazole should be increasingly prescribed at the early stage of treatment for HIV by doctors in Africa.

The study concluded: “Co-trimoxazole prophylaxis (combined with anti-HIV treatment) is cost-effective and has a substantial public health effect.”