HIV treatment drug could be effective preventative tool: study
Posted March 1, 2015 8:19 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A drug used here as part of treatment for people infected with HIV could be used as an effective preventative tool, claim the authors of a new study by the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network.
Popping two Truvada pills the day before sex and a pill each in the two days afterward could reduce the chances of acquiring HIV by 86 percent, according to the study.
“This was a placebo controlled trial, so people in both groups had access to condoms, had access to counselling, and were closely followed for two months,” says the study’s principal investigator Dr. Cecile Tremblay.
A year and a half ago, the US green lighted the use of the drug in this role. As it stands, the drug can only be used by patients already infected with HIV.
“We hope that these data will help further acquire this indication for this drug so it can be easily prescribed by physicians across Canada for people who are at high risk of acquiring HIV infection,” says Tremblay.
The study monitored 414 gay men in Canada and France.
