Antivirals like Tvada make possible for gay men to love whout a sense of dread | Peter Staley and Matthew Rose | The Guardian

Contents:

• ANTIVIRALS LIKE TVADA MAKE POSSIBLE FOR GAY MEN TO LOVE WHOUT A SENSE OF DREAD
• PREP E JUMPS TO 35 PERCENT AMONG GAY AND BI MEN AT RISK OF HIV
• TVADA, A PILL TO FIGHT HIV, STIRS NTROVERSY AMONG GAYS
• WHY AREN’T GAY TEENS TAKG A DAILY PREP PILL TO PREVENT HIV?
• WHY SO LTLE UPTAKE OF PREVENTIVE TVADA THE AT-RISK GAY MUNY?
• THERE IS A DAILY PILL THAT PREVENTS HIV. GAY MEN SHOULD TAKE IT.

ANTIVIRALS LIKE TVADA MAKE POSSIBLE FOR GAY MEN TO LOVE WHOUT A SENSE OF DREAD

The sex liv of gay men were once overshadowed by the fear of possible transmissn of HIV.

One of – Peter – me of age durg the early years of the panmic, and is now his fifti; I am whe, and like hundreds of thoands of other Amerin gay men, beme fected by HIV before the vis had a name.

PREP E JUMPS TO 35 PERCENT AMONG GAY AND BI MEN AT RISK OF HIV

As a young black gay man, I reprent one of the most affected muni today’s epimic and only recently started takg antiretrovirals; my se, I take them to prevent beg fected. Even though rat of HIV fectn are risg aga gay men, pecially young gay men of lor, I rema sadly, we both enunter people every day that have not heard about the scientific breakthrough the fight agast Aids that Tvada that’s not the only important news that isn’t gettg spoken about enough.

A large study showed that those of who are posive n have sex whout fectg our HIV-ee partners, as long as we take effective antiviral therapy that keeps our vis the study, which followed hundreds of gay and straight upl where one person was HIV-posive and the other was not, there were zero fectns after an timated 45, 000 acts of ndomls sexual terurse. That n give gay men a remarkable peace of md that we uld only dream of havg durg the early years of the a public health standpot, the breakthroughs have bee game-changers the fight agast Aids.

TVADA, A PILL TO FIGHT HIV, STIRS NTROVERSY AMONG GAYS

Natnally, rat of fectn among young gay men and transgenr women have been risg, pecially among Ain Amerins. Gay men of lor have faced the duel hurdl of homophobia and racism, cludg racism om other gay men, and an historil difference om the gay tablishment.

It is past time for younger gay men – pecially men of lor – to be heard and discsn around Prep has offered hope this regard.

Its troductn has raised many qutns, around accs, s parative effectivens to ndoms, and how gay men take re of themselv, and each other. Thirty-five percent of gay and bisexual men at high risk of HIV fectn were g PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, the daily pill that prevents HIV fectn, 2017, acrdg to data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventn.

WHY AREN’T GAY TEENS TAKG A DAILY PREP PILL TO PREVENT HIV?

However, spe the nearly 500 percent jump PrEP e among men who have sex wh men, the CDC not “PrEP e remas too low, pecially among gay and bisexual men of lor. More than 40 percent of whe gay and bisexual men at high risk of HIV ed PrEP 2017, while only 30 percent of their Lato unterparts and 26 percent of their Ain-Amerin unterparts did so.

WHY SO LTLE UPTAKE OF PREVENTIVE TVADA THE AT-RISK GAY MUNY?

The updated data highlights the fact that mori accs PrEP at lower rat than wh, spe beg at higher risk of HIV data also found high awarens of PrEP, which is also known by s brand name, Tvada, among all gay and bi men: Eighty-six percent of Ain-Amerins know about , as do 87 percent of Latos and 95 percent of wh. “Of the timated one ln Amerins at substantial risk for HIV and who uld benef om PrEP, fewer than 10 percent are actually g this meditn, ” the CDC noted, referrg to low uptake overall among heterosexual and jectn-dg-g populatns that are also at high risk of HIV CDC said is fundg ernment and private health anizatns’ efforts to spread awarens of PrEP, and “velopg new ways to nnect gay and bisexual men of lor and transgenr people to PrEP. “We want to brg HIV to s kne, and this will help, ” said Mar Perez, who directs the unty’s preventn the ncept of g the pill — known medil circl as pre-exposure prophylaxis — has stirred a surprisg bate the gay muny, wh some longtime activists llg Tvada a “party dg” that people will never take nsistently enough to stave off fectns.

If not taken daily, the CDC warns, protectn levels are notable among the skeptics is AIDS Healthre Foundatn Print Michael Weste, whose anizatn recently lnched a new advertisg mpaign urgg the CDC to rethk s support for a munywi preventn method that do not emphasize ndom e first and wh a more sangue view of the pill wonr why crics such as Weste’s foundatn would dismiss any tool wh the potential to crease HIV fectn rat, which are creepg up among young gay and bisexual men of lor. The cx of crics’ ncern is that offerg gay men another way to block AIDS fectn will unrme a long-standg ph the muny to promote ndom e, which is known to also prevent the transmissn of HIV and guil for admisterg pre-exposure prophylaxis stipulate that Tvada should be ed wh ndoms, not stead of them. ”Advot the gay muny see crics such as Weste as Purans, engagg what they ll a shamg exercise siar to the disapproval unmarried women faced 50 years ago when they mand accs to the birth ntrol have been brand as takg the pill so they n engage promiscuo sex whout ndoms.

But to acknowledge that we want raw sex entails a big risk self, bee that don't f wh the image of the good, rponsible gay man who dutifully practic safe sex. To ask about Tvada for PrEP n feel like a failure for some gay men or an acknowledgement that they want to do somethg that even the mastream gay muny has d as immoral. A Slate post by Mark Joseph Stern Janry posed the qutn and answered : "The flt li squarely the gay muny self.

THERE IS A DAILY PILL THAT PREVENTS HIV. GAY MEN SHOULD TAKE IT.

"There's tth to that, which I'll get to, but I thk first li gay dividuals themselv.