HIV patients are more likely to keep taking medication and thus, are less likely to spread the disease if they are not living on the streets, according to a new study reported in the Globe and Mail. The findings were presented at an international HIV/AIDS convention going on in the western Canadian city of Vancouver.
Out of 708 hard-to-treat HIV patients in Vancouver, 38 per cent had suppressed their HIV by regularly taking anti-retroviral drugs. This made them unlikely to transmit the virus. But only 22 per cent of homeless participants had used the medication to the point that the virus was undetected in their blood.
The study’s author concludes that spending money on supportive housing will save in the long run by making it more likely that patients will stick with their meds and less likely that they will infect others.
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