daledo
2nd December 2010, 00:31
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,732210,00.html
http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-154379-panoV9free-hcvl.jpg
A study on Truvada, a combination pill to prevent HIV infection, has shown that it increases protection by 44 percent. Armin Schafberger of the German AIDS Service Organization told SPIEGEL that the new pill is not an alternative to condom use, however.
A recent study has shown that progress is being made in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Trials of a combination of two anti-retroviral drugs have found that they could also help reduce the risks of HIV infection in the first place. The new drug, Truvada, is manufactured by California-based Gilead Sciences and combines tenofovir and emtricitabine, which are usually used to treat people with HIV.
The researchers randomly selected 2,500 gay or bisexual men in a number of countries and gave half the drug and half a placebo. The results showed that those who took the pill had a 44 percent lower rate of HIV infection than those who took the placebo. Participants who took the pill regularly were deemed to have reduced the risk of infection even further, by up to 73 percent.
Dr. Robert Grant of the Gladstone Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, who led the study, told Reuters that the pill should not be seen as an alternative to condoms but as "a very powerful back-up."
SPIEGEL spoke to Armin Schafberger, a medical consultant at the German AIDS Service Organization (Deutsche Aids-Hilfe), about his take on the study.
SPIEGEL: What message does the study send out?
Armin Schafberger: That prevention using Truvada seems to function in principle. However, the results are not as good as had been hoped, as the researchers themselves admit.
SPIEGEL: So it will not be possible to dispense with using condoms, even in the future?
Schafberger: Forgoing the use of condoms would be fatal. At the moment, it is completely uncertain whether it will ever be possible to recommend this method. A protective effect of 44 percent is far too low.
SPIEGEL: Are there situations in which taking a prophylactic pill would make sense?
Schafberger: One could consider, for example, giving it to young women aged betwen 15 and 21 in South Africa. At this age they have a very high risk of becoming infected with HIV. Perhaps one could use the drug as a way to cover that period during which they are particularly at risk. However, it is very doubtful if they will really take such a pill every day for a period of years. The study showed that the details provided by the participants could not be relied upon. Some of the medicine was certainly not taken but instead sold.
SPIEGEL: Would the pill help male sex workers whose clients often insist on sex without a condom?
Schafberger: Forgoing a condom would be very problematic for them. Not just because of HIV but because of other sexually transmitted diseases.
SPIEGEL: How much would a prophylactic pill cost?
Schafberger: The drug involved is very expensive. At least in poor countries, it would be cynical to use the pill within one community as a way of protecting those who are healthy, while at the same time there is a lack of money for treating HIV-positive people in a neighboring community.
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First they create AIDS in a lab... now they got the pill that might help 44% of people to not get AIDS. I wonder what all the side effects are going to be on this pill and when will they decide that they outweigh the benefits. There are many ways to treat AIDS naturally that do not require expensive pills that suck away more of your hard earned money. Aids and every disease seems to be manufactured for this sole purpose.
http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-154379-panoV9free-hcvl.jpg
A study on Truvada, a combination pill to prevent HIV infection, has shown that it increases protection by 44 percent. Armin Schafberger of the German AIDS Service Organization told SPIEGEL that the new pill is not an alternative to condom use, however.
A recent study has shown that progress is being made in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Trials of a combination of two anti-retroviral drugs have found that they could also help reduce the risks of HIV infection in the first place. The new drug, Truvada, is manufactured by California-based Gilead Sciences and combines tenofovir and emtricitabine, which are usually used to treat people with HIV.
The researchers randomly selected 2,500 gay or bisexual men in a number of countries and gave half the drug and half a placebo. The results showed that those who took the pill had a 44 percent lower rate of HIV infection than those who took the placebo. Participants who took the pill regularly were deemed to have reduced the risk of infection even further, by up to 73 percent.
Dr. Robert Grant of the Gladstone Institute and the University of California, San Francisco, who led the study, told Reuters that the pill should not be seen as an alternative to condoms but as "a very powerful back-up."
SPIEGEL spoke to Armin Schafberger, a medical consultant at the German AIDS Service Organization (Deutsche Aids-Hilfe), about his take on the study.
SPIEGEL: What message does the study send out?
Armin Schafberger: That prevention using Truvada seems to function in principle. However, the results are not as good as had been hoped, as the researchers themselves admit.
SPIEGEL: So it will not be possible to dispense with using condoms, even in the future?
Schafberger: Forgoing the use of condoms would be fatal. At the moment, it is completely uncertain whether it will ever be possible to recommend this method. A protective effect of 44 percent is far too low.
SPIEGEL: Are there situations in which taking a prophylactic pill would make sense?
Schafberger: One could consider, for example, giving it to young women aged betwen 15 and 21 in South Africa. At this age they have a very high risk of becoming infected with HIV. Perhaps one could use the drug as a way to cover that period during which they are particularly at risk. However, it is very doubtful if they will really take such a pill every day for a period of years. The study showed that the details provided by the participants could not be relied upon. Some of the medicine was certainly not taken but instead sold.
SPIEGEL: Would the pill help male sex workers whose clients often insist on sex without a condom?
Schafberger: Forgoing a condom would be very problematic for them. Not just because of HIV but because of other sexually transmitted diseases.
SPIEGEL: How much would a prophylactic pill cost?
Schafberger: The drug involved is very expensive. At least in poor countries, it would be cynical to use the pill within one community as a way of protecting those who are healthy, while at the same time there is a lack of money for treating HIV-positive people in a neighboring community.
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First they create AIDS in a lab... now they got the pill that might help 44% of people to not get AIDS. I wonder what all the side effects are going to be on this pill and when will they decide that they outweigh the benefits. There are many ways to treat AIDS naturally that do not require expensive pills that suck away more of your hard earned money. Aids and every disease seems to be manufactured for this sole purpose.