Coming Soon: HIV Prevention Pill March 28, 2006 Jill Great news. Not to be too glass-is-half-empty, but how long until the religious right comes out against this drug because it wouldn’t punish fucking by death? Thanks to Lauren for the link.
In the story I read about it, the issue of encouraging unsafe sex was raised. Though I didn’t read the article closely enough to know if that was from sexual-health workers or the sex-is-icky crowd.
Jill, I am a Christain and I believe a drug to prevent AIDS is a good thing. It should be tested and if proven true, distribute to people who want it. As far as sexual sin, well. It is sin and the person(s) commiting the sin(s) are responsible, not society, nor the government. However, I don’t think i should be forced to take it if I don’t want it. Thanks.
I actually am leading a discussion on this in a medical law and ethics class. There is an HIV doctor in San Francisco who has been prescribing this to HIV negative men who are very sexually active and do not use condoms. I know the CDC is conducting the clinical trials in Atlanta and San Francisco giving 200 high risk men a daily dose of Tenofovir and monitoring them for 2 years. Tenofovir works by blocking an enzyme the virus needs to replicate. It is especially promising at reducing transmission because it can remain in the body for up to 2 days. According to an article I picked up, the drug tenofovir is being sold at clubs right now along with Viagra and X for about $100 a pop. One of the concerns I have heard repeatedly is, will this lead to HIV positive men selling their doses of Tenofovir in the clubs for extra cash? Of course there is also the concern that it will promote unsafe sex.
Not to be too glass-is-half-empty, but how long until the religious right comes out against this drug because it wouldn’t punish fucking by death? A more pressing concern might be, how long will it be denied to developing countries where AIDS is a huge epidemic, on the grounds that they’re also dirt-poor?
According to an article I picked up, the drug tenofovir is being sold at clubs right now along with Viagra and X for about $100 a pop Thanks for that information. Sex seems to be the oldest, most popular drug out there.
My concern too would be that us Americans will be happily fucking away while the people who can’t afford it are going to still be told to use spermicide to help prevent HIV…while they are being raped n the Sudan that is.
This would be amazing. I can see the religious right trying to block access like the HPV vaccine, but I hope such a manuver would be unsuccessful. Anyone read the March (i think) issue of Jane magazine? Where the 28 yr. old girl dies of cervical cancer that she got from HPV? I wouldn’t wish that on a dog..
However, I don’t think i should be forced to take it if I don’t want it. um, was that a concern, rlh? because so often, preventative medicine pills are forced on people who don’t need them …
how long until the religious right comes out against this drug because it wouldn’t punish fucking by death? (sotto voce) Shhh! They’ll hear you!…..
The fear of promiscuous women seems to be a permanent fixture in the minds of men in power. I remember reading that Queen Victoria of Great Britain was the first woman to use anesthetic drugs to assist her during delivery, though they had been used for dentistry for some time before that. Because she had used and approved it, the drugs then became available to other women, although prejudice against women wanting to be relieved of pain persisted. This was because the Vatican immediately began a campaign against the use of pain relief during deliveries because they assumed it would cause women to become promiscuous if they knew that pain relief were available to them during childbirth. They were depending upon the fear of pregnancy to keep women from having any sexual relationships and of hearing about any form of contraception. The church still dreams of a sexless society, it seems