Last week, results of a 32 month long real world study were released which show that PrEP is effective in stopping the spread of HIV. This is from a story at Time:
A drug designed to prevent people who are at risk of HIV from being infected is showing promise: a new real-world study found that those who took the drug stayed HIV-free. The finding adds to growing evidence the drug, PrEP, serves as an effective method of curbing the spread of the HIV virus.
For the study, the first to look at PrEP outside of a clinical setting, researchers evaluated more than 650 people who began the drug during a 32-month period. Nearly all of the participants were men who have sex with men. Users were more likely than non-users to report that they had multiple sex partners. During the study, participants developed a number of different sexually transmitted diseases but remained free of HIV.
The pathway to stopping the spread of HIV is two-fold.
Testing
The first and most important piece is HIV testing. Get tested every three months. The vast majority of people who spread HIV don’t even know they have it.
If you become positive, get on treatment immediately to get your viral load to undetectable levels as soon as possible. Studies shown that ppeople with undetectable levels of HIV do not spread the virus.
Prevention
This study demonstrates that daily use of PrEP is an effective tool to use in conjunction with condoms to keep ypurself from becomming infected with HIV.
Probably the biggest obstacle facing the use of PrEP as a prevention tool is a lack of information as well as the spread of misinformation. The linked file below provides real and good information that could help you decide if PrEP is a good idea for you.