Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Forum explores Truvada's use in fighting HIV
by Kate Sosin, Windy City Times
2011-06-22

This article shared 6436 times since Wed Jun 22, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


When Gladstone Institutes released evidence that Truvada, a one-a-day HIV pill, might prevent HIV in addition to treating it, the news sparked both excitement and skepticism.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest HIV/AIDS medical provider in the country, came out against the use of Truvada for prevention, despite the fact that Gladstone's Iniciativa Profilaxis Preexposicion (iPrEx) trial showed the drugs to be more than 90-percent effective in preventing HIV in those who took it daily.

Experts on the study sat down with Feast of Fun podcasters Fausto FernÃ"s and Marc Felion at Center on Halsted June 15 to talk about what the study means and if Truvada could signal the end of the pandemic. Present were Dr. Robert Grant of Gladstone Institute, Keith Green, director of federal affairs at AIDS Foundation of Chicago, and a youth who participated in a similar study Green conducted in Chicago.

"In our wildest dreams, we did not think [Truvada] would be more than 90-percent effective in those who took it," Grant told the audience.

The findings also astounded Green, who halted Project PrEPare, a similar Chicago study, because he didn't want to continue administering placebos when he knew Truvada worked.

While the effectiveness of Truvada in preventing HIV is clear, the practicality of it remains uncertain. For one, Truvada is meant to be taken daily, which could pose a challenge to many not accustomed to the routine or whose lives don't always allow for consistency, such as youth living on the street. Additionally, Truvada is not without side effects including nausea, although that tends to go away over prolonged use, said Grant.

One barrier in getting people to use Truvada is stigma, Grant said.

"These pills, in particular, have been the one thing that folks want to avoid," he said, adding that fear surrounding HIV/AIDS contributes to fear around taking Truvada for prevention. "It strikes people as a misuse [of the drug]."

The drug could cost as much at $10,000 a year, an impossibly high price for people without insurance. In Illinois, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) which provides antiretrovirals to those who cannot afford them, is already cash-strapped. Truvada used for prevention could compete with Truvada treatments, creating a kind of Catch-22 for service providers who want to end the spread of HIV but also serve those who are positive already.

"We really have an ethical dilemma," Green said.

Still, many insurance companies are interested in Truvada for prevention because even with the cost of the drug, prevention is at least half the cost of treatment.

Rico, the youth who participated in Green's Chicago study on Truvada said that taking the drug made him "more considerate" of his body and protecting himself. He said that he had been hesitant to participate in the study but decided to sign up when he learned of the impact it could have on his community.

Grant and Green did acknowledge that iPrEx study had its shortcomings.

"I started to look at Dr. Grant's work, and those people didn't look like our people," Green said, adding that a low number of youth and African Americans had participated. Grant agreed and noted that their efforts would seek the expertise of Chicago service providers whose work included a diversity of clients. Still he added, the drug seemed to work equally well among people of every race.

As for AHF's critiques of using Truvada for prevention, neither Grant nor Green seemed to give them much weight.

"This is a large corporation, actually that has revenues above 300 million dollars a year, so well above my pay grade," said Grant, who went on to say that he was not certain about why AHF was working to discredit the trial results.

Truvada is awaiting FDA approval before it can be marketed for HIV prevention. Grant said that Gilead, the company that makes Truvada, will likely be hesitant to market the drug for prevention and that it will be up to AIDS service providers to make the leap in making Truvada more accessible.

For some, that leap can't come quickly enough.

"We either pay now or we pay forever," Grant said. "We have a chance now to stop this epidemic."


This article shared 6436 times since Wed Jun 22, 2011
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Brown Elephant Returns To Northalsted
2024-03-26
Brown Elephant's Lake View location is moving to Northalsted and already accepting donations. Howard Brown Health, the largest LGBTQ+ health center in the midwest, operates three Brown Elephant resale shops in the Chicagoland area to help ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care
2024-03-26
With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

Planned Parenthood of Illinois expands Orland Park health center
2024-03-26
--From a press release - ORLAND PARK, Ill. - Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) announces the expansion of its existing Orland Park Health Center at 14470 S. LaGrange Rd., Suite 106. The 1,800-square-foot expansion is projected to increase sexual and reproductive ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council sets a new course
2024-03-18
Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council held its first meeting of the calendar year on Feb. 28 at City Hall in the Loop under the leadership of the recently appointed chair Jin-Soo Huh. The LGBTQ+ Advisory Council is ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

UK health service to stop routinely prescribing puberty blockers to minors
2024-03-14
NHS (National Health Service) England confirmed that children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender-identity clinics, the BBC reported. The decision came after a review found there was "not enough evidence" that they ...


Gay News

One Roof Chicago launches youth-focused workforce development program
2024-03-14
One Roof Chicago (ORC) is set to launch its first training, education and job placement program for LGBTQ+ young adults in late spring. This Community Health Workers and Elder Care program is a part of ORC's ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community
2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

Howard Brown Health faces October trial if settlement isn't reached with union
2024-03-13
Howard Brown Health could go to trial over unfair labor practice allegations if the LGBTQ+ health center doesn't reach a settlement with its agreement soon. Chicago's regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed ...


Gay News

Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist David Mixner dies at 77
2024-03-12
On March 11, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist David Mixner—known for working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign but then splitting from him over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)—died at age 77, The Advocate reported. ...


Gay News

Pro-choice activists protest crisis pregnancy center on International Women's Day
2024-03-11
The rainy weather on March 8 didn't deter a passionate group of pro-choice protesters from gathering in Old Town on International Women's Day. Following the opening of Women's Care Center—a crisis pregnancy center—directly next to Pl ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Altercation, mpox research, Univ. of Fla., George Santos, tech battle
2024-03-08
Video footage uploaded to Facebook showed an altercation between a state trooper and two prominent Philadelphia LGBTQ+ leaders, the Washington Blade reported, republishing an article from Philadelphia Gay News. Celena ...


Gay News

Pride 365 event emphasizes year-round support for LGBTQ+ employees
2024-03-07
Queer employees are queer all year-round. The need for employers to accordingly support and uplift them year-round was the core message at Howard Brown Health and Citywide Pride's Pride 365 "Out of Office to Out in ...


Gay News

AMA launches toolkit to increase screenings for HIV, STIs, hepatitis, tuberculosis
2024-03-06
Press release - CHICAGO — With disruptions in clinical care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and viral hepatitis across the U.S., the American Medical Association ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS






Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.