On the penultimate day of 2013, the New York Times gave readers a deep dive on Gilead’s Truvada for use in preventing HIV, or rather the lack thereof. As the Times notes, the combo drug has seen poor uptake among the gay community for that indication, 18 months after the strategy’s FDA approval.
The lack of Truvada prescriptions—particularly among men—was attributed in part to “negative reactions” HCPs have reportedly given men when they brought it up, as well as social stigma: a particularly derogatory label has been used on social networks to describe men who are on the pill and purposefully engaging in risky behavior, NYT reports.
The article also addressed the absence of a public campaign to promote Truvada for prevention, its price, and side effects. Adherence issues, too, were called out.
