Truvada

For the first time, a study shows that a drug used to treat HIV infection also can help prevent it when taken before and after sex between two men.

The largest U.S. gay-rights organization Saturday endorsed efforts to promote the use of a once-a-day pill to prevent HIV infection and called on insurers to provide more generous coverage of the drug. Some doctors have been reluctant to prescribe the drug, Truvada, on the premise that it might encourage high-risk, unprotected sexual behavior…

In 1977, I ran for senior class president, hoping against hope that my penchant for wearing platform shoes and fellating men in my spare time might somehow get overlooked by my high school classmates in Bossier City, Louisiana. I lost that faith when my campaign signs throughout the school hallways were vandalized. As the student body arrived that morning we were greeted with the word “FAG” scrawled across the posters in red spray paint…

There is more good news about HIV treatment pills used to prevent infection in people at high risk of getting the AIDS virus: Follow-up from a landmark study that proved the drug works now shows that it does not encourage risky sex and is effective even if people skip some doses. The research was discussed Tuesday at the International AIDS Conference in …

NEW YORK — It’s the Truvada conundrum: A drug hailed as a lifesaver for many people infected by HIV is at the heart of a rancorous debate among gay men, AIDS activists and health professionals over its potential for protecting uninfected men who engage in gay sex without using condoms.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Truvada, the first drug approved to reduce the risk of HIV infection in uninfected individuals who are at high risk of HIV infection, or who may engage in sexual activity with HIV-infected partners.

In a groundbreaking series of recent clinical trials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that a pill containing either one or two anti-HIV drugs taken daily can reduce transmission of the HIV-virus by as much as three-quarters among heterosexual couples.