CNN HEALTH Special Section

• Scientists: Some may have natural HIV immunity
• Delegates urge more clean-needle programs
• Bahrain broadcasts AIDS special

GENEVA (CNN) -- The discovery of HIV strains that are resistant to potent drugs underscores the importance of prevention and compliance with treatment programs, experts said Wednesday at the 12th World AIDS Conference.

Doctors said major obstacles, including lack of patient adherence to complicated drug regimens, increased the risk of drug-resistant HIV strains forming.

"What we've done until now is mainly focus on the efficacy of our medication -- this is appropriate; it's very needed," said Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr, Chief of Infectious Medicine at New York's Harlem Hospital.

"On the other hand, I believe that there's been neglect in the whole arena of looking at the effectiveness of these treatments."

El-Sadr said since clinical drug trials are usually conducted in the span of a few weeks or months, there is little research into the long-term effects of taking anti-AIDS drugs for years.

Treatment difficult to follow

American and Swiss researchers who reported the resistant strains in two men, said the mutations were most likely caused by lapses in taking medication or changes in drug regimens.

"One hundred percent adherence is rarely achievable," said Bill Whittaker of the Australian group, People Living with AIDS.

He said complicated schedules for medication and lack of privacy and confidentiality to take pills throughout the day make it difficult to follow through on a course of treatment.

"It's a daily reminder that we have the virus and we'd like to forget," Whittaker said.

Effective drugs may temper fear of infection

Aids experts also said the availability of powerful drugs may be creating a false sense of security. They point to new research that shows a dramatic increase in un-protected sex among young, gay men in San Francisco, a city hit hard by the AIDS epidemic.

"We don't want to be victims of our own success," said Dr. Helene Gayle of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "By having better and better therapies, it's easy for people to be lulled into the idea that this is no longer a bad thing. It's still a very, very serious disease."

Other AIDS Conference developments

• AIDS researchers from the University of California San Francisco AIDS Research Institute said they were studying the possibility that some people have a natural immunity that protects against the HIV virus. They said although their research is preliminary, it could eventually play a role in finding a vaccine.
  
  
• Delegates at the conference recommended needle-exchange programs be boosted throughout the world to fight against the spread of AIDS. Researchers said increased drug trafficking and a drop in the cost of drugs in developing countries threatened to create a boom in HIV transmission through dirty needles. In some nations, including Russia and Vietnam, cases of HIV infection through drug use surpass cases of infection through sex.
  
  
• Bahrain aired television interviews this week with AIDS victims in an effort to raise awareness of the disease, a topic rarely discussed in Arab countries. The health ministry said it will broadcast more debate on AIDS later this year. The island nation is not considered to have a significant HIV-infected population, but the island is publicizing the risk ahead of the summer holiday season when many residents travel abroad.