Dear Health Care Provider, African Services Committee has provided health, social and legal services to HIV+ African immigrants and refugees throughout the New York metropolitan area for over 19 years. We write this letter regarding a health issue facing many of your HIV+ African, Asian and Latin American patients. In the past few years, researchers and doctors have uncovered the global prevalence of HIV genetic variation. Virtually all of the diagnostic tools and antiretroviral treatment for HIV have been based on HIV-1 B, the strain of HIV prevalent throughout North America and Western Europe. However, the ten HIV-1 non-B subtypes and HIV-2, not HIV-1 B, comprise the absolute majority of infections worldwide, and especially throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. Over 90% of our African HIV+ clients in New York City who have tested for their HIV type/subtype have been diagnosed with a variant of HIV other than HIV-1 B. African Services Committee runs the HIV Variant Project with the assistance of the New York City Department of Health (NYC DOH) Bureau of Labs. We work to ensure the best possible care for HIV+ immigrants through HIV type/subtype testing and function as a resource for health care providers, with information about appropriate viral load monitoring, resistance testing and antiretroviral treatment as they apply to HIV genetic variance. The HIV Variant Project is funded by the Congressional Black Caucus through a Ryan White Title I Enhancement of Services Grant. Because of the relatively recent discovery of HIV-1 non-B subtypes and HIV-2, medical management of these types/subtypes has yet to be incorporated into HIV standards of care. Therefore, we recommend the following:
If you would like more information about the HIV Variant Project,
HIV |