However, there are several concerns about anti-retroviral regimens:

• The drugs can have serious side effects and long-term complications.

• Regimens can be complicated, requiring patients to take several pills at various times during the day.

• If patients miss doses, drug resistance can develop.

• Anti -retroviral drugs are costly – according to UNAIDS, the cost is $519 for low income countries, and $2389 for middle income countries per person per year - so the majority of the world's infected individuals do not have access to the medications and treatments.

Because of these issues, the prescription of HAART is often delayed as long as possible. The current guidelines for anti-retroviral therapy from the World Health Organization recommend that anti-retroviral therapy should start when a patient's CD4 count drops below 200/mm3, or an AIDS defining illness is diagnosed. The HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration states that anti-retroviral therapy should begin when the CD4 cell count is between 200 and 350/mm3.

(B)    Immune Modulators

Another possible treatment modality is to strengthen the immune response of people infected with HIV with Immune Modulators. There are perhaps five Immune Modulators in development for HIV/AIDS that are in Phase II trials.

Ever since AIDS entered the public consciousness, various forms of alternative medicine have been used to treat its symptoms. The clinical effects of these dietary supplements and other treatments are, for the most part, undocumented and unproven.