WHO guidelines for antiretroviral therapy in serodiscordant couples in sub-Saharan Africa: how many fit?

To evaluate the implication of WHO guidelines for serodiscordant couples, we interviewed HIV-infected adults on their partner's serostatus. We found that 12% with more than 500 CD4+ cells/&mgr;l should be recommended antiretroviral treatment (ART) because their partner was seronegative; 24% could be recommended not to start ART because their partner was seropositive; and 64% could not be given any recommendation regarding ART early initiation because they had either no stable partnership (30%) or were in a stable partnership with a partner whose status they were not aware of (34%).

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