Innocent Gahigana
12 August 2008
Kigali — The global search for biomedical actions to help fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic has discovered new treatment options.
The options include novel HIV possible treatment procedure called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), clinical trials and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate (TDF) drug use.
Prophylaxis is any medical or public health procedure whose purpose is to prevent, rather than treat a particular disease.
The global AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC), August 2008 report unveiled the PreEP trials for TDF, an Antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.
The report released at a global HIV/AIDS forum which ended last week in Mexico, revealed that TDF and emtricitabine drug combination was also being tested.
According to the report, the trials are said to be currently underway in some African, Asian, Latin and North American countries.
Health Minister Dr Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo, Tuesday said the trials had not yet come to Rwanda,
"We haven't received such a report but when we do, our biomedical research specialists will take-up its recommended clinical trials," minister promised.
The report underlines the list key issues of the trials which need governments, donors, researchers, and advocates attentions for PrEP deal to succeed.
The aim is to look for the safety and efficacy of PrEP, in which the AIDS patients could take Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs with hope of reducing their risk of acquiring new HIV.
"It is time for PrEP to be placed high on the AIDS advocacy and global health agendas" the report reads in part.
"This means supporting high-quality, accelerated research on PrEP and preparing for whatever results may come from its trials, as soon as 2009."
It further explained that public health leaders, advocates, policy makers and communities impacted by HIV/AIDS need to be better prepared for the results of PrEP trials.
Figures released by Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) ahead of the summit revealed that the number of AIDS patients around the world had gone down.
However, infection rates are still rising in some countries and that the access to the right treatment is also an issue.
The six-day conference convened about 20,000 scientists, government officials and campaigners from around the world.
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Dear Editor,
The combination of two toxic anti-HIV drugs, tenofovir (TDF) and emtricitabine, goes by the name TRUVADA. Truvada will be tested in Africans to see if it protects against infection by HIV. Half the volunteers will take a daily dose of Truvada and the rest will get a placebo. Neither the volunteers nor the researchers will know who gets which pill. All the participants will be tested every month during the two-year study, and for six months afterwards.
In other words, healthy Africans will be treated with a combination of toxic drugs when then have no disease or symptoms… [Read Full Text]