A Pill a Day Could Keep HIV Away

Massive 15,000-person trial will test drug's effectiveness
Posted Aug 4, 2008 7:24 AM CDT
A Pill a Day Could Keep HIV Away
Keren Dunaway-Gonzalez, 12, who is HIV-positive, delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, Sunday Aug. 3, 2008.    (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

With 2.7 million people contracting HIV every year, the race is on to test the efficacy of a daily pill meant to prevent the virus, the New York Times reports. After recent unimpressive results in tests of vaccines and microbicides, the PrEP drugs are now some scientists’ leading hope for stopping infection before it starts.

More than 15,000 subjects will participate in the tests, including people from Africa, South America, Asia, and the United States. And there’s no time to lose, said a researcher. “We cannot wait for the study results to begin to prepare for the optimal use and delivery of PrEP,” he noted. We should “make real plans for making PrEP available to those who can benefit from it, as quickly and safely as possible." (More AIDS stories.)

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