Two new studies are out affirming recent evidence that medications designed to treat HIV/AIDS can be effectively used as prophylaxis against the disease in high risk populations. The two African studies both suggest that a two-drug cocktail of highly active anti-retrovirals (HAART), taken as a daily pill, significantly reduced transmission of HIV in sero-discordant couples. Sero-discordant is a fancy medical term meaning one partner is HIV positive, while the other is not. The New York Times talks about the findings here.
These findings are the first to affirm protection in heterosexual couples. One previous study had shown efficacy in gay men. The research is part of a growing body of evidence that HAART has a role in preventing the spread of HIV that eclipses previous understandings of the drugs. While the news is certainly a welcomed breakthrough in the global fight against HIV, it also bears it share of challenges. Just like the findings a couple months ago, this will most likely lead to calls for increased supplies of HAART. The benefits of such findings will almost certainly benefit Westerners at-risk before those in the developing world. Can we justify providing prophylactic meds to uninfected individuals while millions who are infected still remain without access to medications? Regardless of justification, it will almost certainly happen.
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