Danielle 
Posting #4
Topic: Health
Title of article:F.D.A. Advisory Panel Backs Preventive Use of H.I.V. Drug
Author: Denise Grady
Publication: NY Times
Date of publication: May 10, 2012
Word Count: 1200




Main Idea:

             Recently the Food and Drug Administration also known as the FDA has had talk of backing a drug that will help prevent HIV. Studies have shown that the drug Truvada, which is already used to treat HIV, can also be used to help prevent HIV. After evaluation the FDA recommended people with high risk of infection such as gay men with multiple partners as well as prostitutes. The FDA warned that Truvada is not meant to replace safe sex measures such as condoms but to be used along with them. Experts have said that new preventative measures are needed because there 50,000 new infections a year in the U.S., and that number has not budged in the last 15 - 20 years. An FDA analysis found that people more educated and older are more likely to follow the drug regimen. Although there is no evidence that the drug is preventative against HIV retracted from needle sharing. Because Truvada has already been approved to treat HIV, doctors are also prescribing the drug for prevention, which according to the FDA is not illegal. The voting was not unanimous because some members concluded that there was not enough data to conclusively say if Truvada was safe women or black people. Truvada, which contains two antiviral drugs, is sold by Gilead Sciences, based in Foster City, Calif. Though it is used alone for prevention, it must be taken along with other antivirals to treat H.I.V. Prevention studies of Truvada have been conducted in the past few years, with somewhat mixed results. A recent study in 2010 of 2,499 gay men in six different countries, found an overall risk reduction of 44%. But other studies were halted because the drug was showing no benefit in women

Conclusion:

             In conclusion the drug Truvada which is already on the market for treating HIV is also now being considered to prevent HIV by the FDA. There have been proven studies that HIV is helpful in men, but for women the drug does not seem to be helping. According to Matthew Rose, a membership coordinator for the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, his friends along with himself were very excited for a preventative drug for HIV, Rose being gay himself. Overall the drug does seem to be helping in certain people, mainly being men.