Monalisa Das| June 22, 2014| 11.30 am ISTLast month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued fresh guidelines that recommended the use of the drug Truvada, as a preventive measure for people who are at high-risk for contracting HIV virus. (Link to the guidelines)Truvada, manufactured by Gilead Sciences, is an antiretroviral drug which is also used in the treatment of HIV and has been approved as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) against HIV infection. This means that the drug can be used as preventive method against getting infected with HIV, which causes AIDS. The past few weeks have a seen an intense and involved debate by various fractions of people on whether to support the use of Truvada or not. Some feel that candidates, who ought to be taking Truvada, do not because of a social stigma attached to it- that it is used in treatment of HIV. Others are of the opinion that the drug encourages unsafe and irresponsible sex. That recommending the drug as a preventive measure against HIV would indirectly encourage people to not use condoms and solely rely on the drug’s effectiveness. Many also slam Truvada as a ‘party pill’ used for recreational purposes. The Americas has been witnessing around 50,000 fresh cases of HIV infections each year for over a decade now. This drug could change the way HIV and AIDS are treated and controlled in the country. Federal Health officials recommend the use of the drug along with safe and protected sex practices and regular HIV testing. According to the CDC website, “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”. (Link)The drug which supposedly has minimal side-effects, costs around $13,000 a year, is covered by most insurers and medic aids. Gay and bisexual men, transgender women, people who have sex with an HIV positive partner, adult injection drug users- all fall under the high risk category. Men who sleep with men or MSM is said to be the group which falls under the highest risk of contracting HIV infection, with unprotected sex between them rising to almost 20% from 2005-2011. This could be because of their unwillingness and failure to use condoms during intercourse.In 2012, the FDA approved the use of Truvada, the first medication proven to prevent HIV which is said to have a 99% success rate, states a report by Healthline News. However, even though Truvada was approved in 2012, there haven’t been many takers of the drug. Physicians and health practitioners are said to be wary about prescribing the drug as a preventive measure. In a 2012, in a Huffington post report named Truvada Whores?, David Duran, the author had strongly opposed the FDA’s move to approve it. “In my experience, it seems that a good number of those running to get the prescription are gay men who prefer to engage in unsafe practices. Some will argue that regardless of Truvada, such men will continue to have unsafe (including bareback) sex, and that taking this pill will help decrease their chances of being infected. So instead of educating and promoting safe sex practices, the FDA is encouraging the continuation of unsafe sex and most likely contributing to the spread of other sexually transmitted infections.” The author later regretted for using what many felt was a derogatory term. However, all is not dark at the end of the tunnel. The proposal has many takers as well. A New York Times report quotes Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the country’s best known AIDS doctor, as saying, ““Making the perfect the enemy of the good is something we’ve got to get over. I strongly support the C.D.C. doing this.” HIV is a virus that has been haunting countries for decades now. The CDC’s move is a vital step towards the control and prevention of the infection. This does not mean that the drug provides cent percent protection from all sorts of sexually transmitted infection. However, that Truvada is an effective drug against HIV; there are several studies to prove it. It also needs to be taken under strict medical supervision. But, it cannot be used at the cost of having unsafe and unprotected sex. healthline.com