US, Thailand succeed in HIV prevention drug research

BANGKOK, June 13 (TNA) - The United States, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Thailand, through the Health Department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), have found from their joint research project that the tenofovir medicine can effectively reduce HIV contractions. US Ambassador to Thailand Kristie A Kenney, a CDC researcher, Dr Michael Martin, and a Thai researcher at the BMA's Health Department, Dr Khajit Chupanya, announced the success in Bangkok on Thursday. The joint research project is called Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and its results have been published in international medical magazines, representing a major breakthrough as the HIV prevention among drug-injecting addicts is most efficient. The tenofovir project was launched in 2005 and 2,413 volunteers who are drug-injecting addicts participated in the project. The research finds that only 17 of 1,204 volunteers who receive tenofovir are infected with HIV and tenofovir proves to reduce the risk of HIV infections by as much as 49 per cent. Besides, the research shows that the continual administration of the medicine cuts the risk of HIV infections by as much as 74 per cent and there are no serious side effects, but only a mild side effect of nausea. The US-CDC, as well as the Thai Ministry of Public Health and the BMA plan to apply the research results for the HIV prevention in Thailand afterwards. (TNA)