Medical tests conducted on the Truvada drug, which is used to treat AIDS, has shown that the drug's effectiveness reached 86 percent, according to results announced during the 22nd annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held recently in Seattle, Washington.
A study led by French Professor Jean Michel Pawlotsky, professor of medicine at the University of Paris-Est, showed that the Truvada pills could prevent the AIDS infection if taken daily.
The study was conducted on 400 uninfected gay men in 2012. The men took two pills, two to 24 hours before sex, and a third pill 24 hours later. The fourth pill was taken 48 hours after the first.
Participants were approximately 35 years old and had sex an average of 10 times a month.
After 13 months, 16 cases of HIV infection were recorded among participants. Fourteen cases were recorded among participants who took an alternative drug, and only two cases were reported in the Truvada drug group.
The drug is produced by the American biopharmaceutical company, Gilead Science.
Edited translation from MENA
