USA: HIV prevention drug approved

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the United States, has approved the use of a drug called Truvada to prevent HIV.

The drug has been approved as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to help prevent people at a high risk of contracting the virus from catching it.  The FDA are promoting this alongside safe sex, counselling and regular HIV testing, and the FDA commissioner Margaret  Hamburg said: “Today’s approval marks an important milestone in our fight against HIV”.

PrEP is an important tool in fighting the spread of HIV, and may be of particular interest to couples where one partner is HIV+, particularly if they are trying to have a baby.

A clinical trial is starting in the UK this autumn to look at the effectiveness of PrEP and long term implications of its use.  The trial will be called PROUD, (Pre-exposure Option for Preventing HIV in the UK), and is a joint project between the Medical Research Council and the Health Protection Agency.

Better2Know offers confidential HIV testing with the fastest results available in all its nationwide clinics.