The Department of Health and Human Services recently published the research safeguards and criteria that are part of the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act.
These finalized criteria and safeguards are important as scientists determine the safety as well as the efficiency of transplanting solid organs. In this specific instance, the transplant is from donors who have HIV infections to other recipients who also have HIV infections.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases was critical to creating the criteria and safeguards. These standards will offer scientists the necessary framework that they will use to conduct clinical studies about transplanting organs that have HIV infections.
Health professionals estimate that the transplant clinical studies will start by 2016 in the U.S.
More than 1.2 million Americans have HIV infections. Approximately 12.8 percent, or 1 out of every 8, of these people do not know that they have HIV infections. Statistics from aids.gov show that men who have sex with men (MSM), bisexual and gay populations are the ones most affected by the infections. This is especially true for young black or African-American MSM, as African-Americas have the heaviest HIV burden.
The details about the standards are available in a Federal Register notice from Nov. 25.
