final program.qxd - Parallels Plesk Panel

OP 1.3
Public Health and Social Science in Clinical Research:
the interest of a multidisciplinary approach
France Lert (INSERM, U687, Saint Maurice, France)
Since the advent of HAART ten years ago, HIV infection has turned from a fatal disease
to a chronic condition hitting individuals in their early adulthood and for their whole
lifespan. However survival of people living with HIV depends directly upon accessibility to
care and to effective treatment, upon social and economic support to face the burden of
a lifelong disease, upon accurate response to special needs of patients who do not
participate in or are excluded from / the mainstream of society : undocumented migrants,
illegal drug users, homosexual males. We all know that early diagnosis of HIV infection,
comprehensive approach of care, availability of the full range of ARV medicines, provision
of emotional and social support from the society and from significant others allow patients
to live long with a rather good quality of life. Clinical Thus research activities aim at
identifying and understanding barriers to effective care, to measure failure in achieving the
best possible duration and quality of life, to assess inequalities and to search new
strategies and tools to enhance treatment effectiveness. Since the early period of the
AIDS era, activists have urged the scientific community to mobilise the whole range of
disciplines, from basic sciences to social disciplines, to counter HIV AIDS pandemics both
in resource-rich and -poor settings. To date the normalisation of HIV social issues has not
shattered the uncommon multidisciplinary approach of HIV research. Examples will be
shown of research outcomes showing the interest of various approaches to design
effective interventions and to revise care provision.
“ Focusing FIRST on PEOPLE “ 34 w w w . i s h e i d . c o m