August 26, 2014 | Sex & Society

AHF takes out ads cautioning Truvada use

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is launching an ad campaign citing several studies that conclude anti-HIV drug Truvada is far from the panacea many sexually active gay men had hoped for. The reason: a significant proportion of people on the drug fail to take it every day, as directed. 

"The bottom line is that people won’t adhere and take the pill,” Michael Weinstein, president of AHF, told BuzzFeed. “That’s what studies have shown. If this catches on as a public health strategy, that means there are going to be people who will take Truvada irregularly and some will be infected, and some develop drug resistance.” 

In May, the Centres for Disease Control issued clinical guidelines on PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) to prevent HIV transmission, saying that if taken daily along with using condoms, it is over 90% effective in preventing HIV infection. It recommended that doctors with patients at high risk of infection should consider PrEP as part of their HIV prevention strategy, including regular HIV and STD testing and condom use. In July, the World Health Organization announced a similar recommendation, saying men who have sex with men should consider PrEP as an additional method of preventing HIV infection. 

In other words, no health agency recommends using Truvada instead of condoms and many Truvada users aren't taking the drug properly anyway.