PrEP can help us end HIV

It’s not often that a drug’s product information sheet would be cause for excitement, let alone celebration, writes AFAO Executive Director Darryl O'Donell. 

Yet just as experts met in Sydney on 6 May to discuss HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, Australia’s drug regulator quietly changed the product sheet for the drug Truvada to approve its use to prevent HIV.

This change by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration means that doctors can now write a script for Truvada and it can be dispensed at a chemist. This is groundbreaking because it means Australia’s drug technocrats have said that Truvada is safe, and that it works in preventing sexual transmission of HIV.  

TasP and PrEP: AFAO Members Forum

The afternoon session on day one of the AFAO Members Forum involved robust discussions about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and treatment as prevention (TasP). 

Presentations looked at key areas including research, clinical guidelines, regulation and advocacy, both in Australia and the international context.

TasP panel discussion. L-R: Colin Batrouney (VAC), Cam Cox (Scarlet Alliance),
Bridget Haire (AFAO), Robert Mitchell (NAPWHA), Karen Price (ACON)

PrEP and women: low adherance highlights stigma and gender inequality (CROI 2015 Day 2)

AFAO Health Promotion Officer, Sean Slavin, blogs live from CROI 2015:

One of the most interesting papers at ‪#‎CROI2015‬ today was about the failure of Tenofovir gel as PrEP for women in the South African FACTS 001 trial. This study, among young, poor women showed that adherence is indeed a challenge and not necessarily because of any failure of the participants.

Good news on PrEP for gay men (CROI 2015 Day 1)

The annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2015) is being held in Seatle from 23-26 February. AFAO Health Promotion Officer Sean Slavin  is blogging live from Seattle, reflecting on some of the key highlights: