Welcome  to  public  health  moment from  the  University  of  Minnesota. A  major  new  clinical  trial  seeks to  determine  whether  HIV  infected individuals  with  no  symptoms have  less  risk  of  developing  Aids  or other  illnesses  if  they  begin taking  treatments  sooner  rather  than  later. Jim  Neaton,  a  University  of Minnesota  Professor  of  Biostatistics, will  lead  the  study. There  are  different  recommendations about  treating  when  to treat  HIV  because  the  evidence  is  not  robust. That's  why  you  need  a  very  kind  of strong  study  design  with  randomization, lots  of  people  with  long  term  follow  up  to really  get  the  answer  about  risk  versus  benefit. Here,  Dr.  Keith  Henry, Director  of  HIV  Clinical  Research at  the  Henne  County  Medical  Center, says  that  risks  include  side  effects, which  in  rare  instances  can  be  deadly. He  says  that  cost  is  another  factor  to consider  most  widely  drug  in  the  US  right  now, a  triple,  which  is  a  3.1  drug. And  it  costs  just  under $2,000  a  month,  full  retail  price, and  a  year  of  antichol  therapy  and  monitoring  averages about  $25,000  And  a  patient  who's  doing  well, 40  years  of  that  adds  up  to  $1,000,000 for  40  years  of  successful  treatment  that's  expensive. Having  really  good  data  about what  groups  of  patients  most  benefit  is  really  crucial.