Patients' perspectives on living with HIV

Recent launches of new protease inhibitors and the anticipated availability of new antiretroviral drug classes have increased the therapeutic options available to treatment-experienced HIV-positive patients, and made achieving an undetectable viral load a realistic goal for this patient population.

With these treatment advances, it has become important to understand the unique needs and perspectives of treatment-experienced individuals, a growing population.

Coinciding with the annual conference of International AIDS Society (IAS) in Sydney, Australia, Boehringer Ingelheim announced the launch of the HIV TALK (Treatment, Attitudes, Life, Knowledge) survey, a project supported by the International AIDS Society, which will gain insight into treatment-experienced individuals' attitudes about HIV therapy and living with HIV, potential gaps in education and information, perceptions toward treatment and ways to improve patient-physician dialogue about HIV care.

The HIV TALK survey will be fielded to five hundred HIV-positive individuals who have undergone treatment with multiple antiretrovirals throughout France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. These countries have the largest populations of HIV-positive individuals in Western Europe.

"Great strides in HIV research enable HIV-positive individuals to live longer, healthier lives. With these treatment advances, it is also important to understand treatment-experienced individuals' attitudes, outlooks, and the level of patient-physician dialogue. Through the HIV TALK survey, we hope to gain this valuable information and increase awareness of the needs of this growing patient population and the importance of patient-physician dialogue," said Juergen Rockstroh, M.D., professor of medicine, Universitat Bonn, Germany.

Results are expected in October, 2007.