Just two weeks after the FDA approved an at-home rapid HIV detection test, a drug for use in HIV prevention may soon hit the market. 

The FDA has just approved Truvada, an antiretroviral medication for use in preventing sexual transmission of HIV. It is to be used in combination with safer sex practices, though not as a substitute for safe sex, and was shown to be effective in reducing rates of HIV transmission in a study.

“Today’s approval marks an important milestone in our fight against HIV,” FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. said in a statement. “Every year, about 50,000 U.S. adults and adolescents are diagnosed with HIV infection, despite the availability of prevention methods and strategies to educate, test, and care for people living with the disease. New treatments as well as prevention methods are needed to fight the HIV epidemic in this country.”

More details from HIV Plus magazine at the link above. This is great!