At long last the American government has decided to stop discriminating against people on grounds of gender and sexual preference. Because of limited supply and on the grounds that they were at more risk of contracting AIDS, US health officials have been recommending to doctors that they only prescribe Truvada to homosexual and bisexual males. Truvada is an AIDS prevention treatment that is now available for women and heterosexual males.
The rationale behind this change is that heterosexual people now make up more than a quarter of all new HIV diagnoses each year in the US. This is the official figure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Truvada has been available as a treatment for AIDS for 8 years but only last month was it approved as a preventive drug.
The CDC are saying that the quarter of new cases can no longer be ignored. However they are not recommending Truvada for any sexually active people who ask for it. Even if one person in a relationship is HIV positive, a condom is still the best method of preventing the transmission of the disease. Truvada may for example be prescribed in cases where couples are trying to become pregnant. It is very expensive however since the pill is a once daily dose costing anything up to $12,000 per year. It is possible to have the cost covered by some medicaid programs. Truvada is manufactured by a company called Gilead Sciences and they admit to not knowing how many people are actually using it as a preventive measure.
No comments:
Post a Comment