Volume 9 Number 7/8 Jul/Aug 2008

Welcome to the July/August issue of HTB and summer reading that includes reports from the International HIV Resistance Worshop held recently in Sitges. We continue with additional reports from the BHIVA spring conference and conclude, finally, our coverage from the Retrovirus conference held back in February.

Antiretroviral news includes European approval for boosted atazanavir for first-line therapy and the online publication of the BHIVA Guidelines for Treatment of HIV-1 Infection in Adults.

As a supplement to this issue, we also include the June 2008 edition of Introduction to Combination Therapy.

This booklet is a short summary of information for someone to gain the maximum benefit from their treatment and their clinicians. It is widely used in clinics for newly diagnosed patients or patients about to start treatment.

The new edition updates the pull-out colour reference chart on individual drugs, includes the latest recommendations from the 2008 BHIVA guidelines, and includes pages for patients to record their CD4, viral load, resistance test and other personal notes.

This booklet is available free, including in bulk, to all UK clinics and individuals. Please order what you need directly online or using the fax-back form on the back cover of HTB.

Regular readers will have learnt that the London HIV Commissioners declined to support this or any of our other projects.

While we continue to challenge this decision and will update you on this progress in the next issue, we would like to emphasise that i-Base is still very much alive and fighting – any rumours of our demise are extremely premature!

The next issue will also bring our first reports from the International IAS AIDS Conference due to be held in Mexico City at the begining of August. As the largest HIV conference, and having broader focus than purely medical advances, is sure to include important studies and advances.