Scientist discover pills used to treat AIDS can also 'prevent disease'

Drugs used to treat Aids can also prevent against HIV, according to new research.

The findings provide the latest evidence that drugs which control the symptoms of Aids might also hold the key to stopping the spread of the disease.

Although these treatments have been used since the mid-1990s, it is only recently that doctors have recognised their potential as preventative medicine.

Two new studies involving African couples found that taking Aids medication daily reduced infection rates by over 60 per cent.

In the larger of the studies, 4,578 Kenyan and Ugandan couples were given tenofovir, a drug made by Gilead Sciences and marketed under the name Viread. In each couple one partner was HIV-positive and one negative.

The rate of infection for the HIV-negative partners taking tenofovir was 62 per cent lower than a control group. For those taking Truvada, a mix of tenofovir and emtricitabine, the rate of infection was 73 per cent lower than normal.
Similarly, a study involving over 1,200 people in Botswana found that those taking Truvada daily reduced their risk of HIV infection by 62.6 per cent.