"Game-Changing Drug In The Fight To Prevent HIV"
As an HIV counselor and advocate, Grant Roth’s job is to get through to young people online, spreading the word about the daily pill he credits for keeping him HIV-negative. Roth is one of 145,000 people across the country taking the prevention drug Truvada, more commonly known as PrEP. It’s more than 90 percent effective at preventing a person from becoming infected with HIV. “I think it’s a game changer,” said Antonio Urbina, MD, associate professor of medicine and infectious disease and medical director for the Institute for Advanced Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “I see it like what birth control did for women and contraception.” Since the Food and Drug Administration approved Truvada in 2012, the number of people taking the pill across the country has increased more than fivefold. But Dr. Urbina said there's still a long way to go and that more than one million Americans could benefit, including women. "There are over 600,000 heterosexuals that should be on PrEP based on their risk factors," Dr. Urbina said. "So, no, I don't think it's just a gay man's intervention. I think it's really for anybody that's at risk for HIV."
- Antonio Urbina, MD, Associate Professor, Medicine, Infectious Disease, Medical Director, Institute for Advanced Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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