When and where did the World Health Organization launch the guidelines titled The Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV Infection?

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: June 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
The World Health Organization issues consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs in order to provide a unified framework for the treatment and prevention of HIV infection. These guidelines strongly influence national HIV programmes and international funding priorities. This question asks about the specific time and place where an important edition of these guidelines titled The Consolidated Guidelines on the Use of Antiretroviral Drugs for Treating and Preventing HIV Infection was launched.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • The question names the full title of the HIV treatment guidelines.
  • It asks for both the timing and the location of their launch.
  • Answer options combine different years and cities, including Geneva, New York, Nairobi, and Kuala Lumpur.
  • We assume the candidate has followed major updates in global HIV policy or has studied public health milestones.


Concept / Approach:
The consolidated antiretroviral guidelines in question were launched by WHO in June 2013 at the seventh International AIDS Society conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This event was widely covered in global health news, because the new guidelines recommended earlier initiation of therapy and expanded eligibility criteria for treatment. Therefore, the correct answer must reflect both the month and year 2013 and the venue Kuala Lumpur.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify that the question refers to a specific edition of consolidated WHO antiretroviral guidelines, not to any generic guidance.Step 2: Recall that these guidelines were launched during a major international HIV conference in Kuala Lumpur in 2013.Step 3: Look through the options for the combination that mentions both Kuala Lumpur and the year 2013.Step 4: Option A states June 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which matches the known launch details.Step 5: Confirm that other options mention either different years or different venues and therefore cannot be correct.


Verification / Alternative check:
Verification can be obtained by recalling that the 2013 consolidated guidelines expanded antiretroviral eligibility to all adults with CD4 counts below a higher threshold and emphasised viral load monitoring. Reports describing these changes clearly mention that the guidance was unveiled at the International AIDS Society conference in Kuala Lumpur. Geneva, New York, and Nairobi are important cities for health and diplomacy but are not associated with the launch event of this particular guideline document.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B, July 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland, is wrong because although Geneva is WHO headquarters, this particular consolidated guideline edition was not launched there in 2010.Option C, December 2003 in New York, United States of America, is wrong because it refers to a year well before the consolidated guidelines in question and an incorrect city.Option D, May 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya, is wrong because later HIV related meetings do not correspond to the initial launch of this set of consolidated guidelines.


Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to assume that all major WHO guidelines are launched at Geneva simply because it is the organisation headquarters. Another pitfall is to focus only on the year while ignoring the venue, or vice versa, which may lead to selecting an option that is partially correct but overall wrong. To avoid such errors, students should pay attention to both parts of the question and memorise a few key launch events in global health history, such as the 2013 Kuala Lumpur launch of the consolidated antiretroviral guidelines.


Final Answer:
June 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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