SPOKANE, Wash. — It wasn’t that long ago when an HIV diagnosis was essentially a death sentence. When the disease was running rampant in the 80’s and 90’s, treatment options were scarce, and essential.
“I was taking a total of three medications,” said Del, a man who has lived with HIV for more than 30 years. “And was told if I missed one, I could die.”
The disease has taken the lives of more than 42 million people. But those numbers have drastically flatlined in recent years.
Del is one of about 900 people living with HIV in Spokane County.
“In the 1980’s, it was absolutely a death sentence,” said Rachel Safran, an internal medicine physician with Multicare. “And now, unfortunately there still are a fair number of new infections, [but] that has really plateaued in the last ten years.”
The fight against the auto-immune disease is on a very different battleground today; one where advanced medication and treatment is helping people with the disease live longer.
“Now we’re in a unique place where we’re not just trying to find treatments at all,” said Safran. “But we’re trying to find ones that are safer, and easier for patients to take as they’re living so much longer.”
In the last year, Multicare wrapped up a clinical trial which led to the approval of a first-in-class drug called Lenacapavir; an anti-viral injection given to patients twice a year to treat HIV and AIDS.
12 people living with HIV in Spokane County partook in this study; giving back to the medical community who has been working tirelessly for decades to find an answer for this disease.
“Many folks that I take care of who have been living with this disease for decades saw most of their friends and families die from HIV,” said Sanfran. “So it’s been really powerful to see those people really want to give back to their community and see the progress that we made.”
Del was one of those patients. He told 4 News Now he’s never feared dying from HIV; in fact, with the advanced treatment options available today, it’s hardly on his radar.
“I’m more concerned about dying from type 2 diabetes than I am from dying from HIV or AIDS,” Del said candidly.
Del currently takes eight pills a day for his health, only one of them is for treating HIV.
“I take more pills for my diabetes, my cholesteral and my high blood pressure than I do for HIV.”
Since Multicare’s clinical trial concluded, Lenacapavir has become available on the market. It’s another promising step in the lengthy fight against this disease.
While there’s no cure for HIV at this point, Multicare is gearing up for more clinical tests down the road, hopeful to uncover medication that can prevent, treat and ultimately cure HIV.
Both Saftan and Del encourage all adults to get tested for it at least once during their lifetime.
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