MOSCOW, May 16 (RIA Novosti) – The European Union has not authorized the preventive use by HIV-negative individuals of Truvada, an antiretroviral medication now endorsed by US health authorities, a European Commission health spokesperson told RIA Novosti Friday.
“The European Commission granted a marketing authorization for Truvada in 2005. The medicine is indicated in antiretroviral combination therapy for the treatment of HIV-1 infected adults aged 18 years and over,” Frédéric Vincent said.
“So far, the product is not authorized to be used by healthy people to prevent HIV contamination,” Vincent said.
The remarks came in response to recent guidelines by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) instructing healthcare workers to offer the prevention pill to patients “at substantial risk for HIV.”
In this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the CDC called for Truvada use for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).
“When taken consistently, PrEP has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection in people who are at high risk by up to 92%. PrEP is much less effective if it is not taken consistently,” the CDC said in an online statement.
The risk group involves those in an ongoing relationship – homosexual or heterosexual – with an HIV-positive partner, people not in a mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who recently tested HIV-negative, and people taking illicit drugs.
The implications of a government-endorsed AIDS prevention pill range from changing patterns of consumption for contraceptives and STD preventive measures, to a paradigm change in sexual education and AIDS awareness.
