XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: billsteele@dev.null   
      
   Hey Weiner!  You're still a disgusting piece of shit.   
      
   San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener on Wednesday became what   
   appears to be the first public figure in the country to disclose   
   that he's taking a drug that prevents HIV infection - a pill   
   that public health officials said could save lives but has   
   remained largely unused due to stigma and lack of awareness.   
      
   Wiener's announcement is significant because so few people have   
   been willing to talk openly about their use of Truvada, a drug   
   that's been weighed down by controversy. He said he hopes his   
   revelation will lift some of the stigma associated with Truvada   
   and encourage more men to consider taking it.   
      
   Critics have suggested that taking the daily pill could make   
   people more likely to engage in unsafe sex, but that claim   
   hasn't been backed up by research. Still, the idea has   
   persisted, and people have been slow to embrace a drug that   
   public health officials believe could be key to stopping, or   
   significantly slowing down, the spread of HIV.   
      
   Wiener's disclosure, which he made in an online essay published   
   Wednesday evening, comes as San Francisco pushes an aggressive   
   campaign to persuade more gay men to take the drug, which is   
   referred to as PrEP, for pre-exposure prophylaxis. Truvada, an   
   antiviral drug that has been used to treat HIV infection for   
   more than a decade, is the only pill approved for prevention.   
      
   At a meeting Thursday, Supervisor David Campos is expected to   
   discuss a new initiative to make Truvada more accessible in San   
   Francisco and distribute it to any resident who needs it. The   
   initiative includes a plan to help pay for the drug for   
   residents who can't afford it. Truvada can cost up to $14,000 a   
   year, although it's covered by most insurance plans, and the   
   drugmaker will help with the cost for people who need financial   
   help.   
      
   San Francisco city and public health officials said they want to   
   make the drug more accessible, and also normalize it. Wiener   
   said that was his motivation in going public.   
      
   'Elevate awareness'   
   "People need to feel comfortable talking about these issues and   
   not think they're going to be stigmatized or denigrated if they   
   talk about using it," Wiener said. "My hope is that talking   
   about it will elevate awareness about PrEP as an available and   
   powerful prevention tool."   
      
   Truvada, which is made by Gilead Sciences in Foster City, is a   
   single tablet that combines the drugs emtricitabine and   
   tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. If taken daily, it can cut the   
   risk of HIV infection by more than 90 percent.   
      
   The drug primarily has been tested in men who have sex with men,   
   which is why they're the focus of efforts to increase use of   
   PrEP, although it appears to also be effective for women and   
   transgender men and women.   
      
   Most people report no side effects from the drug, and about 10   
   percent of users say they have some gastrointestinal discomfort   
   for the first few weeks after starting. A smaller percentage of   
   users can suffer more serious signs of drug toxicity and will   
   need to stop taking the drug.   
      
   The drug has been widely discussed among health care providers   
   and in the gay community for several years - even before it won   
   FDA approval - but even in San Francisco, where much of the   
   initial research was done, the pill has been slow to gain   
   acceptance. Nationwide, only about 2,000 people are taking PrEP.   
      
   "Nationally, we all - health departments and community groups -   
   need to speed this up, because we could be preventing a lot of   
   infections," said Dan Van Gorder, executive director of Project   
   Inform, an HIV patient treatment and information advocacy   
   organization.   
      
   The slow acceptance of the drug has been due somewhat to the   
   stigma, which is widespread but has dimmed in recent months. But   
   another major barrier comes from doctors, many of whom have been   
   reluctant to prescribe it, especially if they don't regularly   
   treat HIV-positive patients and aren't familiar with Truvada.   
      
   Increase accessibility   
   That's where San Francisco can improve access to the drug,   
   public health and city officials said. Thursday's city meeting,   
   organized by Campos, is focused on the idea of ensuring the that   
   drug is easily available to anyone who is interested in it,   
   regardless of their ability to afford it or find a doctor who   
   will prescribe it.   
      
   "The issues we face are in getting what we know is a very   
   effective HIV-prevention tool into the hands of people who need   
   it," said Dr. Susan Philip, director of the STD Prevention and   
   Control Services Section of the San Francisco Department of   
   Public Health. "We've always believed in PrEP as an   
   intervention. Now we're figuring out how to help with delivery."   
      
   Wiener said he was slow to come around to PrEP, even after he'd   
   seen the initial reports about how effective it could be. Like   
   many other men, he wasn't convinced at first that he was the   
   right target for the drug.   
      
   "A lot of us in the past had stereotypes about who should be   
   using PrEP - that PrEP was for sex workers and porn actors and   
   people who hated using condoms. But really prep is much broader   
   than that," Wiener said.   
      
   Now, he said, he likens the drug to the birth control pill -   
   it's just another option for practicing safe sex.   
      
   "There are some people who are convinced PrEP is going to make   
   people reckless, but that's a bogus argument. It's the same   
   argument we've heard around birth control, and it's very   
   antipublic health," Wiener said. "There's always a lot of   
   judgment around sex.   
      
   "There are downsides to being public about my sexual health,"   
   Wiener said, adding that the most awkward drawback so far has   
   been telling his mom he was taking PrEP. "Ultimately, I decided   
   that this could play a positive role in moving the dialogue   
   forward and increasing awareness."   
      
   http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/S-F-supervisor-discloses-   
   PrEP-use-in-hopes-of-5763189.php   
      
         
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)