Results of two studies announced today (July 13) reveal that a daily antiretroviral tablet can help reduce the risk of acquiring HIV by up to 73 percent, according to a statement released by UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS.
One study by the University of Washington’s International Clinical Research Center followed 4,758 couples (where one person had HIV infection and the other did not) in Kenya and Uganda. Couples also received counseling, and free male and female condoms.
There were 62 percent fewer HIV infections in the group receiving daily tenofovir and 73 percent fewer HIV infections in the group that took tenofovir-emtricitabine compared to the group receiving the placebo.
The other study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control followed 1,200 uninfected men and women in Botswana, and found the tenofovir-emtricitabine tablet reduced the risk of infection by roughly 63 percent.
“This is a major scientific breakthrough which re-confirms the essential role that antiretroviral medicine has to play in the AIDS response,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “These studies could help us to reach the tipping point in the HIV epidemic.”
The World Health Organization recommends a number of HIV prevention options: correct and consistent use of male and female condoms, waiting longer before having sex for the first time, having fewer partners, medical male circumcision, and avoiding penetrative sex.
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