Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan reports
On Monday July 18,2012 in Washington, DC a representative
from the FDA confirmed that FDA approved a once-a-day pill that can drastically lower the risk of
contracting the HIV virus. The name of the medication is called Truvada it’s first
HIV virus prevention pill. This medication is not cheap the pill's
annual cost ranges from just under $11,000 up to $14,000. It's not clear what insurers will pay for it. As a surviving
family member of an uncle who lost his life in 1994 to AIDS related
complications. I totally endorse and support Truvada. It’s a break through in modern science and it will save
many lives.
The FDA previously approved Truvada to be used in combination
such as with other antiretroviral
Emtriva® (emtricitabine 200 mg) and Viread® (tenofovir
disoproxil fumarate 300 mg), agents for the treatment of HIV-infected adults and children 12 years or
older. This medication is to be taken once a day with or without food.
 |
| Bottles of antiretroviral drug Truvada, the first approved by the FDA to prevent HIV infection Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. |
- TRUVADA does not cure HIV
or AIDS.
- TRUVADA alone may not
keep you from getting HIV.
- If you have HIV
infection, you may still get other infections that happen in people with
HIV like TB (tuberculosis) or fungus, while taking TRUVADA.
As a HIV advocate with an
organization called Each One Teach One in Wilmington, Delaware. Individuals
that are at high risk for the HIV virus will benefit from the daily dosage of
Travade. If the medication is taken daily it will cut the risk of receiving a
positive HIV results by 90%. However all other prevention measures must stay in
place so this medication will be effective.
The other option is to
remain giving positive HIV results. This is a complicated situation for a
medical provider. To reveal a positive HIV result is not an easy task to
conquer. Throughout the initial assessment the medical professional will
retrieve personal information to identify all risk factors that is associated
with the persons life style. Once an individual is diagnosed with HIV the
objective of the provider to educate and decrease the risk factors of the
individual transmitting this virus to someone else.
The medical provider must be
trained to give accurate information about prevention and services. However you
must properly educate the individual with the appropriate up to date medical
treatment/medication of current HIV treatment clinics. No matter how many years
you have been doing HIV counseling it is never easy to give a positive HIV
result.
There
are worries that people taking the pill might relax safe-sex precautions. But health
officials hope the pill will help reduce the number of Americans who get HIV
every year — a figure that has hovered around
50,000 for years. While it sounds
simple, the new prevention strategy involves a bunch of complicated issues
Dr. Ashraf Grimwood, he’s
concern that there could be serious negative consequences if Truvada starts
being used as an HIV prevention pill. Truvada currently is part of the primary
drug regimen in South Africa to treat HIV. Doctors here say Truvada has far
fewer side effects than most other AIDS drugs but it still has some. Dr. Ashraf
Grimwood, a longtime AIDS activist based in Cape Town and now the head of Kheth'lmpilo, says,
“He's already seeing decreased kidney function among some HIV-positive patients
who take Truvada. It’s unclear what the
long-term effect would be of putting healthy people on Truvada, but he worries
that it could cause more kidney failure.
Jim
Pickett says, that he has had the AIDS virus since 1995. He says had no
complications. Side effects from long-term use are unclear, but some of the
more serious complications linked with Truvada include kidney and liver
problems. The potential for those problems shouldn't be dismissed, but it's not
a reason to reject using the drug for prevention, said Pickett, whose group is
not affiliated with the San Francisco foundation. For some people, the risk of
kidney problems "10 years down the line may be less than the risk for
acquiring HIV, which is significantly more problematic and can be fatal,"
Pickett said. "We need options for people. This is one option. It wouldn't be an option for everybody. It's not meant for everybody," Pickett said.
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