FDA Review Favors First Drug for HIV Prevention

WASHINGTON — A pill that has long been used to treat HIV has moved one step closer to becoming the first drug approved to prevent healthy people from becoming infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that Gilead Sciences’ Truvada appears to be safe and effective for HIV prevention. It concluded that taking the pill daily could spare patients “infection with a serious and life-threatening illness that requires lifelong treatment.” Continue reading

Magnetic Couples – Gay Couples Study: Prevention Opportunities for Serodiscordant Couples (Videos)

Smart, honest and forward thinking! This is not your typical HIV conversation.

On November 14, 2011, Magnet hosted “Magnetic Couples: When Opposites Attract”. The forum aimed to provide information about new research and findings about prevention opportunities for serodiscordant couples. Audience members also heard about “ground level” experiences from researchers and clinicians.

Serodiscordant (sero-discordant) is a term used to describe a couple in which one partner is HIV positive and the other is HIV negative. Serodiscordant relationships are also referred to as “magnetic”. The term seroconcordant is its antonym, used to describe a couple in which both partners are of the same HIV status (i.e. both are HIV positive or both are HIV negative).

 

In this clip are representatives from the Gay Couples Study, an HIV prevention study that is part of the Center for Research on Gender and Sexuality at San Francisco State University (Lynae Darbes, PhD – Co-Investigator Sean Beougher, MA – Project Director):

 

In this clip are representatives from San Francisco’s Department of Public Health:

Grant Colfax, MD – Director of HIV Prevention Section

Special thanks to Sister Roma of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and Lavender Lounge Studios. Novice project of Guard TheO Pressed.