| Aids Cause Life
Insurers to Take Stock |
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In South Africa,
where around 5.5 million people among the population of 47 million have
HIV/AIDS, life insurers are re-examining the products and services they
offer HIV-positive clients.
"Over the past decade, vast improvements have taken place in the
treatment of HIV/AIDS," said the Life Offices' Association of South
Africa, a coalition of long-term insurance providers. "Therefore, some
life insurers are in the process of developing new generation products
that will offer competitive premiums for
HIV-positive
people on an ART [antiretroviral treatment] program."
The few established South African insurers that have offered life
insurance to HIV-positive people charged up to nine times as much
compared with standard policies, though pay-out was not contingent on
whether the client was taking antiretrovirals. Now, companies like
AllLife and AltRisk are offering people with
HIV
policies at rates only around four times higher. However, the policies
require adherence to an appropriate treatment plan.
"Our clients are investing in their future - buying a house, starting a
business, furthering their studies," said Ross Beerman, AllLife's
co-founder and manager director. "People are accessing financial
services products they were not able to before. They are investing in
themselves."
Launched one year ago, AllLife targets 5 percent of a potential client
pool of around 2 million HIV-positive South Africans earning a monthly
minimum of 2,500 rand ($358 US). Clients must commit to treatment once
their CD4 count dips below 200, with the company monitoring and
encouraging adherence. Those who do not comply lose their coverage.
"Unlike traditional insurance companies, your history is almost
irrelevant to us," said Beerman. "It is how you are going to behave in
the future that is important. We tell you exactly what you must do to
live a long life." |
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| We are providing the above information as a public
service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay
media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases
does not constitute endorsement. The above summaries were prepared
without conducting any additional research or investigation into the
facts and statements made in the articles being summarized, and
therefore readers are expressly cautioned against relying on the
validity or invalidity of any statements made in these summaries. This
CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News
Update also includes information from CDC and
other government agencies, such as background on MMWR articles, fact
sheets and announcements. |
| HIV1 - ELISA
Antibodies |
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Most people
infected with HIV carry the virus for years before manifesting AIDS.
During that period, infected people will have few, if any, symptoms yet
they can transmit the virus.
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The
percentage of women with AIDS has increased steadily, and the percentage
of people infected heterosexually has also increased, surpassing the percentage
infected through injecting drug use.
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During 2001, there were 35575 newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates
now
that 40,000 new cases of HIV transmission occur every year.
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Of
the people infected with the virus of AIDS in the USA in the year 2001, 42%
were whites, 37% blacks, 20% Hispanics and <1% Asians and Pacific
Islanders and <1% American Indians and Alaska Natives.
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During the 1990s, the HIV epidemic shifted steadily toward a growing
proportion of AIDS cases in blacks and Hispanics and in women.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) is the cause of AIDS (Acquired
Immuno
Deficiency Syndrome).
The presence of HIV in the body can be detected in several ways. The
most common is the HIV-ELISA Antibodies test.
The
HIV-ELISA
looks for the body
response to the virus
manifested by the
presence in your blood of
Antibodies
to HIV proteins. Antibodies are special proteins that our Immune System
produce in response to the presence of HIV.
The test performed on your
sample actually consists
of two tests: a Screening test and a Confirmatory test. The
screening test procedure is called an
ELISA—Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay
or an EIA (Enzyme Immunosorbent Assay). The
confirmatory test is used in the event your HIV-ELISA is positive and/or
equivocal and is the procedure used is the Western
Blot Assay (WB)
The screening and
confirmatory tests are usually done using small samples of blood. If a
sample of blood tests positive repeatedly in the screening test, it will be
confirmed through the Western Blot test. People will be informed that they are infected
with HIV only after both the screening and confirmatory tests
have shown a positive (reactive) result.
Positive HIV antibody tests results
are over 99% accurate when confirmed. Negative HIV antibody tests are over
99% accurate if it has been at least six months after a contact with a
potentially HIV-infected partner. False negatives or false positives occur
rarely.
Antibodies to HIV can be
detected in the blood, in the urine or in the saliva. People produce
antibodies with different speeds and therefore the time interval between
infection and the development of antibodies to HIV can go from four weeks
to six months from the exposure date or SDC (
Suspected
Date
of
Contact).
The appearance of antibodies in a blood or urine sample of a person which
was known to be negative to HIV is called
Seroconversion.
The HIV Elisa results are usually available in one or two business days.
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