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Researchers announced on April 17 that California
will take part in a trial of a pill to slow the spread of HIV in the state.
Truvada, already approved to treat HIV infection, will be prescribed to 700 gay
and bisexual men and transgender women in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Long
Beach who are at high risk of infection.
“With this new prevention pill, we have another
intervention to put in the arsenal to try and impact this epidemic,” said
George Lemp, director of the California HIV/AIDS Research Program with the
University of California president’s office.
The program awarded $11.8 million in state grants for
the prevention studies and for an outreach to get about 3,000 HIV-positive
Southern Californians to adhere to treatment. University of California schools,
local governments, and AIDS service organizations are receiving the grants.
Although a study published in 2010 found that Truvada
reduces the risk of contracting HIV by 44 percent to 73 percent, depending on
how often patients took their medication, a recent Stanford study showed the
drug only makes sense economically if prescribed to people at high risk, such
as those with multiple partners.
Phil Curtis of AIDS Project Los Angeles said more
research is needed to measure the effects of the approach in the real world. In
San Diego, researchers plan to use text messages to remind people to take their
pill. In Los Angeles, the level of drugs in participants' blood will be
regularly measured.
Critics say taking Truvada for prevention could lead
to more men not using condoms. “Men - gay, straight, bisexual - don't want to
use condoms,” said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare
Foundation. “That's universal. If they are given another reason, then they
won't."
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
