BY SAM BANDA JNR IN ROME, ITALY

As the world still awaits the discovery of drugs which could cure Aids, a new study was conducted in Africa whose results are expected to fundamentally change approches to the HIV prevention in the continent.

An international study has demonstrated that individuals at high risk for HIV infection who took a daily tablet containing an HIV medication – either the antiretroviral medication tenofovir or tenofovir in combination with emtricitabine – experienced significantly fewer HIV infections than those who received a placebo pill.

These findings are clear evidence that this new HIV prevention strategy, called pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP), substantially reduces HIV infection risk.

The study is led by the University of Washington’s International Clinical Research Center and involves 4,758 HIV serodiscordant couples, in which one partner has HIV and the other does not, from nine research sites in Kenya and Uganda.

“This study is the largest study to date looking at the effectiveness of PrEP,” said Dr. Connie Celum, a UW professor of global health and medicine and the principal investigator of the study, known as the Partners PrEP Study in a press release.

The study is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“This study demonstrates that antiretrovirals are a highly potent and fundamental cornerstone for HIV prevention and should become an integral part of global efforts for HIV prevention,” said Celum.

Study results through May 31, 2011 were reviewed on July 10, 2011 by the Partners PrEP Study Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), an independent group of experts that monitored the study’s conduct, safety, and effect of PrEP on preventing HIV infections on an ongoing basis. Due to the strong HIV prevention effect seen, the DSMB recommended that the Partners PrEP Study results be made public and the placebo arm of the study be discontinued.


Meanwhile the organisers of the 6th Iinternational Aids Society(IAS 2011) conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention which kicked off yesterday, has welcomed the compelling new data released Wednesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the University of Washington on the ability of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to reduce HIV acquisition among uninfected individuals exposed to the virus through heterosexual sex.

The results of CDC’s TDF2 study were scheduled to be released during the IAS 2011, but were released early following the University of Washington’s announcement of the preliminary results of their Partners PrEP study.


“We congratulate the researchers on these important trial results and look forward to their presentation during the IAS gathering where we will have the opportunity to discuss the data and their implications for HIV prevention initiatives around the world,” said IAS 2011 International Chair and International Aids Society President Elly Katabira.

The new data according to Stefano Vella, IAS Local Co-Chair and Research Director Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), adds to the cascade of evidence over the past year about the use of ARVs in HIV prevention and that the IAS gathering is a critical moment to examine where we are and where we are heading with the information we now have available.

IAS is the world's leading independent association of HIV professionals, with over 16,000 members from more than 196 countries working at all levels of the global response to Aids.

It's members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy and programme planners. The IAS is the custodian of the biennial International Aids Conference and lead organizer of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which is being held in Rome this year.