Human Rights Campaign Endorses PrEP to Reduce Spread of HIV
The Human Rights Campaign officially endorsed pre-exposure prophylaxis as a means to prevent the spread of HIV in a post by the HRC Blog.
An HRC policy paper released on Oct. 19 said that the organization specifically supports the practice of Truvada, the lone drug presently sanctioned for PrEP -- an amalgamation of two antiretrovirals manufactured by Gilead -- is 99 percent effective in preventing HIV transmission if taken daily as directed, 96 percent if only taken four days a week and up to 70 percent at two days a week. This is nearly the equivalent efficacy as condoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP can reduce the risk of infection among at-risk communities by up to 92 percent.
"HRC explicitly endorses the use of Truvada for PrEP as a key aspect of a comprehensive preventive care regimen," as scribed in the policy paper by the Human Rights Campaign. "We believe that PrEP is a critically important tool that must be part of any and all efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States."
However, the HRC did recognize that PrEP remains a polemic and controversial topic among some HIV/AIDS service activists and health care experts, who say the prevention strategy faces numerous obstacles and concerns, particularly in African countries where getting PrEP into the hands of the people who need it most relies on funding.
"Research and development has produced a valuable range of medicines, diagnostics and devices to prevent and treat HIV which have to be made more widely available," wrote Luiz Loures, deputy executive director of the U.N.'s Joint Programme on AIDS in a statement. "However, funding is declining at a time when services need to be expanded and better treatments and additional HIV prevention options are needed."
At the moment, Truvada totals an average of $1,300 a month without access to payment assistance programs or medical insurance coverage.
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