Guidelines on optimum treatment are now available for many diseases, but in few diseases does the standard of care evolve as quickly as it has done in the treatment of HIV infection. Whilst it may take three to five years for the results of major clinical trials in fields such as heart disease to be translated into improvements in the standard of care, treatment of HIV infection tends to change much more quickly.

In order to ensure that patients are offered a uniform minimum standard of care, and to help persuade funders to pay for new treatments, several organisations in the United States and the UK have developed guidelines for using anti-HIV drugs. These guidelines are the work of the International AIDS Society (IAS), the US Public Health Service, the British HIV Association (BHIVA) and PACT.