HIV Drugs Can Also Protect Partners of the HIV-Positive

Two new research studies done in Africa suggest that taking HIV medication can boost protection against HIV. The BBC Guardian writes “The partners of people who have HIV can protect themselves from infection by taking a once-daily pill, two groundbreaking studies in Botswana, Kenya and Uganda have shown.” The larger study in Kenya and Uganda on nearly 5,000 couples in which one partner had HIV and one did not, shows that “those taking a single daily tablet of the Aids drug tenofovir had 62% fewer infections and those who took a pill combining tenofovir and emtricitabine had 73% fewer infections than those who took a placebo pill.”

The second study in Botswana followed 1,200 HIV-negative heterosexual men and women who took either a placebo or took a once-daily tenofovir/emitricitabine. “The antiretroviral tablet reduced the risk of acquiring HIV infection by 63 percent overall.”

Lisa Power, Head of Policy at the HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust, told the BBC that “Pre-exposure prophylaxis is not going to be available overnight but we are exploring whether it is one of a range of things that can drive down onward transmission of HIV.”

Stress on that “not going to be available overnight” part. She also said findings need to be tested and trialed, and “If you're currently trying to stay HIV negative, don't give up on the condoms yet.”