Anti-HIV drug splits opinion

摘要

Helpful or harmful? A drug that you can take before and after sex can help people cut their risk of HIV infection. Men and women in the US can already take the drug as a daily pill. The new "on demand" regime could make the drug more convenient, and cheaper to use regularly, yet not everyone is convinced. Some doctors fear the approach will discourage condom use, while others, such as Michael Weinstein of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, see it as a free pass to promiscuity. We should abandon such moralising for the sake of public health. "This will be a powerful tool for almost eliminating HIV transmission," says Cecile Tremblay at the University of Montreal, Canada. "If we combine it with other measures we could reach that goal in developed countries within 10 years."