HIV drug resistance found in China's poorest: study

By Tan Ee Lyn

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - More than 17 percent of HIV patients being treated for their infection in China developed resistance to available drugs by 2006 and 2007, according to a new nationwide survey.

With only seven of the more than 20 different HIV drugs available in China, the finding, announced by Chinese government researchers at an international AIDS conference in Mexico City, means these patients quickly end up with limited options. HIV infection is incurable but cocktails of the drugs can control it.

And the finding is surprising because the virus usually mutates into drug-resistant form only after people have been taking the drugs for a while. China began its national free HIV drugs program in 2003 and very few people had access to drugs before then.

Chinese government researchers said those who developed drug resistance tended to be from families with low and unstable incomes.

"When we first started, we didn't have much experience and patients tended to be suspicious if these medications would work. So their adherence was not good and that resulted in higher rates of drug resistance," said Liao Lingjie from the National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Chinese government estimated at the end of 2007 that about 700,000 people were infected with HIV, up from an earlier estimate of 650,000.

According to official Chinese media, about 20,000 Chinese were receiving free HIV drugs by the end of 2006. It is not clear how many people in China need to buy their own drugs.

The World Health Organization, however, estimated earlier that 122,000 people in China would have required HIV drugs by the end of 2004.  Continued...