Help for HIV drug resistant patients

HIV patients in New Zealand will soon be able to benefit from medication that has helped people who are resistant to treatments in Australia and the UK.

There were 150 new cases of HIV diagnosed last year, most of which were acquired overseas, according to medical development agency Merck & Co.

In New Zealand the company is called Merck Sharp & Dohme and it is currently waiting on approval from the government to fund Isentresstm, which would treat people who have developed a resistance to existing HIV treatments.

Resistance to existing therapies was one of the major challenges to HIV treatment in the country, according to national positive health manager for the New Zealand Aids Foundation Resistance Eamonn Smythe.

A total of 40 people needed this drug, which was expected to increase in future.

Isentresstm works by blocking HIV viral DNA's ability to replicate and infect new cells.

According to HIV Insite, HIV cases in New Zealand are on the increase after declining during the 1990s.

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