Studies on prevention and management of HIV/AIDS in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)

Deposited with permission of the author. © 2007 Mohsin Mahomed Sidat.More than 25 years have passed since the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported and a decade since highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was introduced as part of the continuum of care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The introduction of HAART as a continuum of care for PLWHA positively changed the characteristics of HIV/AIDS epidemic, contributing for significant declines of HIV/AIDS-related morbidity and mortality rates. Thus, a new era began with HAART, often referred as the “HAART era”. However, HAART also brought with it new challenges and issues for researchers working in the field of HIV/AIDS. This thesis comprises several studies that were designed to gain understanding of some issues on prevention and management of HIV/AIDS that emerged in the current HAART era. The review of the literature points out for many emergent issues in HAART era, but only some issues were researched and presented in this thesis