Should You Be Taking An HIV Prevention Pill?

The World Health Organization is recommending that all gay men should be taking a preventative HIV pill. Are these pills effective, and should we be limiting this to just gay men? Tara discusses HIV, and how all sexually active people might want to consider taking this pill.


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"Heterosexual HIV-1 transmission is an inefficient process with rates reported at 1% per unprotected sexual exposure."

WHO: People most at risk of HIV are not getting the health services they need
"Failure to provide adequate HIV services for key groups - men who have sex with men, people in prison, people who inject drugs, sex workers and transgender people - threatens global progress on the HIV response, warns WHO."

New Guidelines For Gay Men: A Daily Anti-HIV Pill
"The World Health Organization has thrown its weight behind a controversial strategy for curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS: Today the organization strongly recommended that men who have sex with men consider taking a daily pill that prevents infection with the virus."

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[meganrea]

This is why safe sex is always important! Regardless of possible pregnancy, STD's and HIV are a possibility in all couples, diseases don't discriminate.

[mky]

New drug costs $10, 000 in US, costs $100 in third world nation.

I don't get it.  Clearly the materials aren't that expensive, shipping doesn't cost that much,   why does it costs 100 times more in the US?

[Phredreeke]

Of course you should target risk groups first. That said, you fail to account for a change in attitude in those that take the pill. Mainly, the subjects may be more likely to engage in risky sexual activities since they think the pill will protect them.

[ChristopherMei]

About the Alabama girl, it should be noted that the parents disappeared 18 months into it with the girl without the doctors' consent so the trial wasn't done. So that should be taken into consideration, they still don't for sure what hasn't work, another girl in LA is under the same trial and let's hope it will work for her.

[ehrinlloyd]

"A study has shown for the first time that a drug used to treat HIV infection also can help prevent it if gay men take it before and after risky sex."

Why not just refrain from having "risky sex"? Nature has already provided the prescribed method (as long as you don't fuck _that_ up with more "risky" behavior)

[Edited]

Sometimes being asexual is alienating, sometimes it's quite relieving.

[josephstalin]

i wish all sexually transmitted diseases would just disappear ... but telling only gay dudes to take the pill is just plain old prejudice 

[bleach]

They should have just gave out the numbers instead of flat out saying gay men should take the meds. 

[AltairDhauglu]

You can turn the question around to. Is it moral to not take a medicine that can prevent such horror?

[amandabyrd]

I do think it's a little discriminatory

[wizltheblondealien]

I always thought health care was a business until I read the comments. Holy shit my country is brain washing the shit out of me.

[whatdacurl]

I don't think it should be mandatory but a choice like birth control

[dianarodriguez]

You know what really really pisses me off? that guys have condoms and gay men can have safe sex, well what about lesbians. What protection do they have and why is it that its not as well known as the protection gay men have.. like they wanna be safe too and that makes me really really mad

[johnathan]

hmm $10, 000 is a good reason to recommend a pill rather than saying use a condom and have 1 partner.

[sputnikjammer]

Why don't people just have safe sex and get tested regularly if they don't.

[SquEE]

So why the hell does it cost $10, 000 a year in the US and only $100 a year in other countries that is just bullshit

[icywolf]

Yes it is unethical, especially if they are monastic, and both are HIV negative.  

P.S. I will not respond to any hate comments.

[Siberius-]

Sounds like a large scale scam to me, targeting such a large group of people. It makes sense for them to take it but it also makes a lot of sense for straight couples to take it since of straight people have it too.. Plus there's plenty of bisexuals that will transfer it from gay to straight couples.

[KnightRaymund]

Not unethical to ask... I guess. I sure as hell aren't doing it. I'm not taking drugs everyday,  risking the side effects, incurring the cost. I'm not sexually active but when I am I'll wear a condom and try to get some info from my partner.

And what if it helps build up some kind of resistance by making the use even more widespread?  I don't think those with the virus would appreciate that much. But then I don't really know how these drugs work or how they'd compare with the anti-biotic resistant issues we're currently facing. I know it's a virus and not bacteria.

[Visbalalam]

Why the fuk would microsoft be interested in this?