June 2005 Cover
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At the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta (ARCA), 200 HIV-negative men who have sex with men (MSM) will take the HIV drug tenofovir (Viread) in a test of its safety and its
potential use to prevent HIV infection in people at high risk. Animal studies have suggested tenofovir can stave off HIV infection, and some doctors are using it experimentally as a
post-exposure prophylaxis.
The CDC-funded study is seeking 200 MSM, half of them black. So far, five men have signed up. Another 200 MSM will be enrolled in San Francisco.
Some participants will take tenofovir daily; others will take a placebo. Regular urine, blood and HIV tests will be administered. The men will also be assessed regarding their risky sex
or drug use activities. Critics of the trial have expressed concerns that giving tenofovir to high-risk subjects might give them a false sense of security and lead to an increase in risky behaviors.
Similar studies, funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will test tenofovir, mostly on women, many of whom are sex workers, in Africa
and Cambodia. Some trials, however, have encountered opposition because participants or governments demanded increased access to care for subjects who become infected with HIV
during the study. Such opposition has led to the cancellation of some trials.
Editor's Note: from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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