2016 Marks the 20th Anniversary of the HHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents

When is it time to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) and what HIV regimens offer the greatest chance of treatment success? For the past 20 years, practitioners caring for individuals with HIV have looked to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents for guidance on these and other HIV treatment-related questions. Since its inception in 1996, the Panel has published 29 issues of the Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents and 5 drug supplements to provide this guidance. The guidelines are available on the guidelines portal of the AIDSinfo website.

The Panel, a working group of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council (OARAC), includes approximately 50 members, including non-governmental scientific experts in HIV care and research; community members knowledgeable about HIV treatment and care; and representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and NIH.

Panel members review and analyze study results published in peer reviewed journals and data presented at HIV-related conferences to develop the guidelines. All recommendations in the guidelines are based upon scientific evidence and expert opinion, and included with endorsement from a consensus of Panel members.

Panel co-chair Dr. Martin Hirsch notes that the guidelines reflect the Panel’s collective commitment to the care of HIV-infected individuals. “Over the past 20 years, Panel members have dedicated their time and expertise to translate the latest findings in HIV research into recommendations that have advanced the care of countless HIV-infected individuals across the United States, and indeed, the world.” Dr. Roy Gulick, fellow Panel co-chair, further notes that the work of the Panel has steadily expanded with advances in HIV research. “When the Panel released the first guideline in 1998, there were only 10 ARVs approved by the FDA for use in the United States. Today, the Panel must consider more than 30 FDA-approved ARVs, including many fixed-dose combinations, when developing guideline recommendations.”

Throughout the years, the Panel has worked to broaden dissemination of the guidelines. Web statistics indicate that online visits to the guidelines grow steadily each year. In addition, in 2015, the AIDSinfo HIV/AIDS Guidelines app was released. The free Guidelines app is available for iOS and Android devices and includes 5 other HHS HIV treatment guidelines in addition to the Adult and Adolescent ARV Guidelines.

Visit AIDSinfo to download current and archived issues of guidelines or to download the guidelines app to your mobile device. Panel members welcome your feedback on the guidelines. Please send your comments to ContactUs@HIVinfo.nih.gov.

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