An openly gay San Francisco supervisor
announced this week that he's taking Truvada to reduce the risk of
contracting HIV.
Supervisor Scott Wiener is among the
first elected officials to disclose that he's participating in the
treatment known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP.
The daily regimen was approved by the
Food and Drug Administration in 2012 and some researchers believe it
may reduce the risk of infection by 99 percent, when taken as
prescribed.
Critics, however, say it's too early to
embrace Truvada and some complain about its toxic side effects.
Wiener said that “a much larger
segment of gay men should be taking a close look at PrEP.”
Supervisor David Campos has proposed
subsidizing the drug to HIV-negative residents who can't afford it.
Truvada lists for over $1,000 a month.
New York is counting on the drug to
help it to sharply cut new infections.
(Related: New
York's Andrew Cuomo declares war on state's AIDS epidemic.)