Facing the Threat of Drug-Resistant HIV, United Kingdom Must Reexamine HIV Testing, Sex Ed, Commentary Says

"The fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS has been matched by the struggle to find a cure," Ros Dodd, a feature writer for the United Kingdom's Birmingham Post, writes in a Post commentary. Sixteen types of antiretroviral drugs allow people to live "longer and more healthily" and have had a "major impact" on treatment within the U.K., reaping "huge benefits" for people living with HIV, Dr. Deenan Pillay, a "leading" virologist and director of the U.K. Public Health Laboratory Service antiviral susceptibility reference unit, said. However, there also has been a "dramatic growth" in drug-resistant strains of the virus. With 20% to 30% of patients experiencing resistance-related treatment failure, the possibility of drug-resistant virus spreading is "bad news," Pillay added. He said that an increase in the number of new HIV and other STD cases shows that "people with HIV who are in treatment are clearly still engaging in unsafe sex." Therefore, there is an "urgent need" to reexamine sexual health education, he said. The first measure he proposed is to "normalize" HIV testing to