US approves HIV drug
The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved the use of the anti-retroviral drug Truvada as a measure to prevent HIV infections, a Chiang Mai-based academic said yesterday.
“The approval came after a big-scale trial in 16 countries showed a 42 per cent reduction of HIV acquisition risk among those taking Truvada,” said Assoc Prof Suwat Chariyalertsak, head of the Chiang Mai University Research Institute for Health Sciences.
Studies show that risks of HIV infection are reduced even further if people have taken the drug regularly, he said.
Truvada, manufactured by US-based Gilead Sciences, is available in Thailand, but it has only been prescribed in the treatment of patients who already have HIV.
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