WHO HIV Drug Resistance Report 2012

At the end of 2011, more than 8 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries, a dramatic 26-fold increase from December 2003. Although it can be minimized, some degree of HIV drug resistance is anticipated to emerge among people on treatment even when appropriate antiretroviral therapy is provided and high levels of adherence are achieved. Therefore, WHO initiated global surveillance of HIV drug resistance in 2004 in order to adequately monitor the emergence of HIV drug resistance as countries scaled up access to antiretroviral therapy.

Although HIV drug resistance data from low- and middle-income countries are increasingly available, lack of surveillance data over time substantially limits the ability to assess trends in these countries. As ART coverage continues to grow, national programmes should perform routine surveillance of transmitted and acquired HIV drug resistance to optimize programme planning and management and to inform antiretroviral therapy policy.