A clinical trial in South Africa achieved a rare outcome: one young woman may be cured of HIV. The patient, Anele, received an urgent diagnosis in May 2016 after nurses at a local research center in Umlazi contacted her. She was 23 at diagnosis and experienced intense emotional distress. Early diagnosis and treatment were enabled by the FRESH program (Females Rising through Education, Support and Health), begun in Umlazi in 2012. Six years after diagnosis, FRESH enrollment led to participation in the first-ever African clinical trial attempting an HIV cure. The outcome was announced at the IAS conference in Kigali in mid-July. Stigma remains a reason for limited identification.
In a landmark first for the continent hardest hit by HIV, a new clinical trial in South Africa has delivered a rare but extraordinary outcome: One young woman may be cured of the virus. The story begins in May 2016 when Anele got a call from nurses at a local clinical research center in Umlazi township.
"I cried a lot," recalled Anele, now 32, speaking to a group of assembled scientists, doctors and health officials on the first day at the International AIDS Society (IAS) conference in Kigali, Rwanda in mid-July. "I was only 23. That day, I was not OK at all." Anele explained at the IAS conference that she did not want to be fully identified due to the ongoing stigma associated with being HIV positive in Umlazi. It may not have felt like it at the time, but compared with the estimated 5.2 million other women living with HIV in South Africa, Anele was fortunate.
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