Thirty years into the HIV pandemic, researchers have finally found a way to stop the virus that causes AIDS. When people at high risk for HIV take the drug Truvada as a preventive measure, they lower the chances they will contract the virus by 92 percent, according to a major study.
The problem? Either through ignorance or fear of side effects, few people who need the drug are taking it. Truvada contains two antiviral drugs, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, and it has few side effects, say doctors.
“Ultimately, our goal is to end all HIV transmission,” says Robert Grant, M.D., a leading HIV/AIDS investigator at the University of California-San Francisco. “We think we can do that by rolling out PrEP and making it available universally, which means that it’s available to everyone who needs it.”
PrEP is short for “pre-exposure prophylaxis,” which is an umbrella term for strategies that can prevent infection before they occur. Truvada is the cornerstone of HIV PrEP, along with condom use.
The CDC estimates that 500,000 high-risk, HIV-negative Americans need PrEP. But only about 10,000 have prescriptions for Truvada. Meanwhile, about 50,000 new cases of HIV infection are diagnosed each year in the United States, almost all of which are preventable.
“PrEP is a new idea,” Dr. Grant tells Newsmax Health. “It takes time for new ideas to disseminate.”
Research shows that fear of side effects is largely unfounded. Most Truvada users report none. The only potentially serious side effect of Truvada is abnormal kidney function, which occurs in approximately one of every 200 PrEP users.
So it’s recommended that PrEP users undergo a blood test every three months to measure kidney function.
Truvada is expensive — about $1,000 per month — but it is covered by most insurance plans. Co-pays are usually in the range of $15 a month.
Overall, Truvada is far safer and better for health than contracting HIV and then going on antiviral drugs. It’s also an economic bargain. Over a lifetime, each prevented case of HIV infection saves an estimated $355,000 in treatment costs.
According to Dr. Grant, the most important barrier to the acceptance of Truvada may have nothing to do with medicine. In some gay circles, Truvada has been denounced as an easy way to continue unprotected promiscuous sex.
“We actually found that condom use on average increases among PrEP users,” he says.
Dr. Grant says that such moral judgments are as misguided as those aimed at women who first took the Pill in the 1960s.
Ultimately, says Dr. Grant, the quest to conquer HIV may depend on public figures willing to embrace PrEP. He’s encouraged by the example of an openly gay member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who takes Truvada.
Dr. Grant acknowledges that Truvada carries a stigma in segments of the gay community, but says that reversing the negative connotation will prevent countless illnesses and deaths.
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