Dr. Weiping Cai: Long-Acting Antiretroviral Drugs Usher in a New Chapter in AIDS Care
AIDS remains one of the most significant public health issues worldwide, with around 38 million people living with HIV (PLWH). In recent years, with the continuous advancement of antiretroviral therapy (ART), AIDS has gradually transformed into a manageable chronic disease. However, PLWH still face challenges like poor drug adherence and increased risk of resistance. Therefore, the development of innovative long-acting antiretroviral drugs has become a breakthrough to reduce the medication burden on patients and decrease the threat of the disease. From July 23 to 26, 2023, the 12th International AIDS Society HIV Science Conference (IAS 2023) was held in Brisbane, Australia. The latest research progress on long-acting HIV drugs became a major highlight of the conference. Infectious Disease Frontier specially invited Dr. Weiping Cai from the Eighth Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, China, to provide insightful comments on this hot research area.