San Francisco Set to Offer Anti-HIV Pill to Gay Men

The National Institutes of Health and San Francisco health officials anticipate launching a pilot project next year on the use of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk men who have sex with men. With study details still to be finalized, city health officials were presenting an update on the MSM trial at the HIV Prevention Planning Council’s Sept. 8 meeting.

“We are anticipating we will be the first municipality to implement a PrEP demonstration project, and things are moving forward toward that goal,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, the city HIV prevention director. “We are hoping the demo project would be implemented in the first quarter of 2012.”

The trial would gauge MSM interest in PrEP and how best to administer the intervention. “We don’t know if people want it,” Colfax said of PrEP. City Clinic would oversee the program, with the Castro’s Magnet MSM health center helping to identify up to 300 participants.

The international iPrEx trial of PrEP, oral tenofovir and emtricitabine (Gilead’s Truvada) taken daily to prevent HIV infection, found it reduced HIV risk by 43.8 percent on average, and by 72.8 percent among those with 90 percent treatment adherence.

Magnet Director Steve Gibson said the few clients who have asked about PrEP either took part in the iPrEx study or are in a serodiscordant relationship. Gibson said he hopes the pilot can help answer how MSM will adopt the intervention, and how access to PrEP can be ensured for low-income and minority MSM. Some HIV prevention advocates worry that PrEP could fuel risk-taking.

“We will do a series of focus groups to get input about ideas and concerns around the project,” Colfax said. “As part of the planning for the project, we want to hear from community members and potential PrEP participants about their concerns and ideas.”

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

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