There is a way of almost completely eliminating the risk of HIV

published on December 1, 2015 by Karen Graham, in Digital Journal

Today is World AIDS Day and there is no better day to talk about the prevention of HIV than now. While the number of HIV infections has dropped 35 percent since 2000, and AIDS-related deaths have dropped 40 percent, these statistics could be even lower.

CTV News is reporting that in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on World AIDS Day Tuesday, it was reported that using the anti-retroviral medication, Truvada, before and after having sex proved to be 86 percent effective in reducing the odds of contracting HIV.

We already know that the use of Truvada on a daily basis by people at high risk of contracting the AIDS virus, primarily those men who have sex with men, has proven to be nearly 99 percent effective, even when a dose was accidentally missed. But taking a pill every day seemed to present a challenge to many people.

“Everybody that was taking the pill as prescribed, they were protected,” said Dr. Cécile Tremblay, professor in the department of microbiology, infectious diseases and immunology at the Université de Montréal who led the Canadian arm of the study, according to the Globe and Mail.

A study of the "as needed" strategy

It is the use of an "as needed" strategy that prompted the new study. Researchers focused on 400 gay men and transgender women, high-risk individuals who had unprotected sex with two or more partners within a six-month period. The participants were broken down into two groups — a placebo group and a Truvada group.

According to the study, "Participants were told to take two pills before sex, a third pill 24 hours after having sex, and a fourth pill 24 hours after that. When sexual intercourse happened more often, participants were told to take one pill per day and then the two post-exposure pills."

The "as needed" strategy seemed to work. Participants who took the antiretroviral drug Truvada before and after sex were 86 percent less likely to contract the virus, compared to those in the placebo group. "Using anti-retroviral therapy reduces the amount of virus in that person as much as possible so they cannot transmit (HIV)," Robert Hogg of the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS told CTV News on Tuesday.

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Robert Hogg

BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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There is a way of almost completely eliminating the risk of HIV

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