The WHO has released early its revised guidelines on the treatment of those infected with HIV (WHO early release guideline; WHO press release). There are two important changes. First, ART is recommended to all HIV infected individuals regardless of their CD4+ count. Second, PrEP is recommended for people at ‘substantial’ risk of HIV infection as […]
Category: Risk compensation
PrEP highly effective against HIV in MSM and has limited impact on risk compensation
The year 2015 is likely to turn out a decisive one for the story of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV). After a slow and faltering beginning, with trials in sub-Saharan Africa dogged by problems of poor adherence (Haberer & Bangsburg/STI/blog; VOICE D/STI/blog; Hendrix & Bumpus/STI/blog), this intervention appears at last to have proved its worth […]
Reported 86% effectiveness for MSM PrEP by PROUD study makes this intervention a viable option for UK health services
The Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections has recently taken place. At that event the UK PROUD (PRe-exposure Option for reducing HIV in the UK: immediate or Deferred) study of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for MSM reported its results, prior to publication in the coming months. The headline figure is an astonishing 86% for the reduction […]
Does risk compensation behaviour neutralize the benefits of voluntary medical male circumcision?
The effectiveness and feasibility of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) as a preventative intervention against HIV has been demonstrated in a variety of non-circumcising African communities. The WHO has designated 14 countries in southern and eastern Africa as priority areas for VMMC scale-up. Attempts to model the progress of the epidemic have long sought to […]