POZ

This is a time to educate the public about promising HIV prevention research, including vaginal and rectal microbicides and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Related events are being held nationwide.

For more info, click here.

Navigating Treatment as Prevention
From our latest issue. People with HIV who take antiretrovirals may lower their chance of spreading the virus by 96 percent. Or is it 26 (or even 100)? Trenton Straube breaks it down.

Yes, we have condoms. But what else works to prevent HIV?
Anna Forbes and Jim Pickett delve into the sticky topic of new/alternative HIV prevention methods on POZ Opinion.

Long-Acting PrEP Injection Prevents Anal Simian HIV Transmission

A long-acting, injectable version of the antiretroviral dolutegravir prevented rectal transmission of simian HIV (SHIV) in eight macaques.

Treatment as Prevention: Not as Simple as It Sounds

For many of us, the concerns about “treatment as prevention” (using drugs before or after exposure to HIV to prevent infection by the virus as opposed to using drugs after infection to stop it from progressing) isn’t about whether or not it is effective on an individual basis in preventing HIV transmission. It is.

Read more of Sean Strub’s blog : http://blogs.poz.com/sean/archives/2012/11/treatment_as_prevention.html

The HIV prevention toolbox just got a headline-grabbing addition. On July 16, the FDA approved Truvada as a pill that certain HIV-negative people can take to prevent them from getting HIV through sex. When taken as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, Truvada, which is manufactured by Gilead Sciences, is supposed to be used daily along with safer-sex practices such as condoms and regular HIV testing. How does Truvada as PrEP work? Who is a good candidate for it, and what are the risks? For answers, AIDSmeds spoke with three specialists: Jared Baeten, MD, PhD, an associate professor of global health and medicine at the University of Washington at Seattle and co-leader of the Partners PrEP study; Gal Mayer, MD, the medical director of the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City, whose primary focus is gay men; and Albert Liu, MD, MPH, the director of prevention interventions at the San Francisco Department of Public Health and also the medical director of the iPrEX study (more details on these studies later). Together, we break down the basic science and real-world application of Truvada as PrEP. Click here for more.

Oh my. We’ve been getting a lot of feedback about PrEP and specifically, the blog post written by POZ Editor-in-Chief Regan Hofmann. In her post, she writes: “In a time of limited resources, how can we afford to invest in PrEP? Do we need to spend millions of dollars on drug trials and feasibility studies for PrEP? Wouldn’t the world be better protected and more lives saved if that money instead was dedicated to increasing access to care for people with HIV? Make no mistake: PrEP is a profit-driven sex toy for rich Westerners, disguised as a harm-reduction and prevention tool for disenfranchised people at risk for HIV.” Click here for more.

Not everyone shares Regan’s views, from readers to POZ bloggers. That’s been made clear. Looking for more information?

Check out this blog posting from Eric Sawyer, the civil society partnership advisor for UNAIDS.

Or this blog posting from David Evans, director of research and advocacy for Project Inform.

It’s a hot topic, for sure, one we will continue to research, report on, and read comments about. What do you think?

From the Newsfeed - HIV Med Truvada Used as Prevention

Preliminary data from the Partners PrEP study at IAS 2011 “definitively” show reduced HIV risk for mixed-status heterosexual couples. Click here for more.