WHO certifies new HIV treatment drug

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has certified Dolutegravir (DTG) as a safe and preferred first-line and second-line treatment drug for HIV/AIDS, adding that pregnant women can also use it.

In a statement posted on its official website on Monday, it said initial studies had flagged DTG as having a possible link with neural tube defects (birth defects of the brain and spinal cord that cause conditions such as spina bifida) in infants born to women using the drug at the time of conception.

Consequently, based on these preliminary findings, many countries had advised pregnant women and women of childbearing potential to take efavirenz (EFV) instead, the release said.

However, new data from two large clinical trials comparing the efficacy and safety of DTG and EFV in Africa have now expanded the evidence base.

WHO said according to new data, risks of neural tube defects are significantly lower when using DTG than what the initial studies may have suggested.

The agency described DTG as an HIV drug that is more effective, easier to take and has fewer side effects than alternative drugs that are currently used.