functional obsolescence. Impairment of the usefulness of a device or equipment due to a design defect, or due to its inability to be upgraded or modified to serve the user's current needs.efinition. Impairment of the usefulness of a device or equipment due to a design defect, or due to its inability to be upgraded or modified to serve the user's current needs. For example, a relatively new computer becomes functionally obsolete if it cannot run the latest program or peripheral the user wishes to use.
Current US DHHS guidelines (published April 8, 2015) state: 1  Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is recommended for all HIV-infected individuals to reduce the risk of disease progression. 2  ART also is recommended for HIV-infected individuals for the prevention of transmission of HIV.
HIV: Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) - Topic Overview. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is the combination of several antiretroviral medicines used to slow the rate at which HIV makes copies of itself (multiplies) in the body. A combination of three or more antiretroviral medicines is more effective than using just one medicine (monotherapy) to treat HIV. The use of three or more antiretroviral medicines-sometimes referred to as an anti-HIV cocktail-is currently the standard treatment for HIV infection.