Truvada to protect against AIDS will be approved in the EU in the future

Pill against HIV infection: "Truvada" is approved in the EU
The most important precautionary measure against HIV infection is to protect yourself with condoms during sexual intercourse. In the future, medicines also play a role in prevention. "Truvada", a pill that has been on the market for years in the US, will be approved in the EU.

Protect with condoms during intercourse
Currently, around 37 million people worldwide are living with the AIDS virus HIV. According to experts, about 2.1 million are newly infected each year. Around 1.1 million people died in the wake of AIDS last year. The United Nations agreed a few months ago on an ambitious plan to end the global AIDS epidemic by 2030.

The most important precautionary measure against HIV infection is to protect yourself with condoms during sexual intercourse. Even medicines can help. Among other things, "Truvada", a means that will soon be approved in the EU.

The most important precautionary measure against HIV infection is to protect yourself with condoms during sexual intercourse. In the future, "Truvada" will also play a role here. The drug is approved in the EU. (Image: sianstock / fotolia.com)

People at high risk of HIV
People with a high risk of HIV infection can also protect themselves here in Germany with the drug "Truvada". According to a report by the news agency dpa, the EU Commission has approved the funds under conditions in the European Union for prophylaxis.

The European Medicines Agency EMA had recommended the approval of "Truvada" as a prophylactic drug for people at high risk of infection in late July. They should also continue to protect themselves with condoms. According to the agency, daily intake of "Truvada" could lower the risk of HIV infection.

The drug has been approved in the US since 2012. Investigations confirmed the effect. For example, a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases showed that not one of the 657 subjects who took the drug for at least two years had AIDS.

Drug for prophylaxis
According to a spokesman for the European Commission, "Truvada" is only on prescription. It is not yet clear when the drug will be available as prophylaxis in Germany. According to the information, the manufacturer must still provide training materials before physicians may prescribe prophylaxis. The remedy has also been used in this country for some time to treat HIV-infected people.

According to the German AIDS Society, as a user of prophylaxis a small group with high risk comes into question: men and transgender, who also have unprotected sex with men who change frequently as well as partners of untreated HIV-infected people.

Monthly cost of 800 euros
A monthly package costs about 800 euros in Germany. According to the GKV-Spitzenverband, the costs for the prevention are not covered by the statutory health insurance.

Holger Wicht, spokesman for the German AIDS Aid (DAH), hopes that a solution to the cost issue will be found as soon as possible. Only then can it be made quickly accessible to people with a high HIV risk. "Otherwise, very few will be able to afford the remedy," says Wicht.

Medication works differently in men and women
DAH Managing Director Silke Klumb recently stated in a statement: "We urge the manufacturer Gilead to contribute to this with a price reduction." However, the producer has so far received no signals that a price reduction for prophylaxis would be conceivable.

In South Africa, the drug is given to prostitutes. In Germany, such a measure according to Aids help is currently not useful. "Among other things," Truvada "works differently in men than in women. There is still insufficient data on the protective effect in women, "explained Wicht. (Ad)