Make World AIDS Day Mean Something

Today is World AIDS Day. The San Francisco Public Health Department contacted me and asked that I help publicize their new HIV prevention study, Project T.

"Project T, part of the HIV Research Section at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, is studying whether a commonly used HIV drug, tenofovir, is safe for healthy, HIV-negative gay and bisexual men. The same study is happening in Boston at Fenway Community Health and in Atlanta at the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta.

Project T will evaluate the side effects and tolerability of daily tenofovir in healthy gay/bi men (biological safety) as well as whether taking a daily pill will affect men’s risk taking behavior (behavioral safety). If tenofovir is proven to be safe then it may be tested in future studies to see if it will prevent HIV infection. It is currently unknown whether tenofovir can prevent HIV infection.

If a person signs up for Project T, he will be randomly assigned to take a daily pill (either tenofovir or a dummy pill called a placebo). Tenofovir was chosen for Project T because of its favorable safety profile and convenient once a day dosing. Neither the participant nor the study staff will know what he received until after the study is completed. The study will last 2 years. Participants will visit our office in San Francisco at Market and Van Ness every 3 months. Participants receive up to $75 for each study visit.

This experimental approach to prevention is known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or oral prevention. PrEP is one of several promising prevention strategies being tested in clinical trials today, along with HIV vaccines and microbicides. This research is important because safe and effective new approaches are urgently needed to further reduce new HIV infections across the globe."

"Even if proven effective, PrEP will need to be used in conjunction with proven prevention methods (condoms, risk reduction counseling, reducing number of sex partners, etc), and would not be a replacement for these measures. "

This is a very important study and I strongly implore any uninfected gay male who fits the requirements of the study to consider participating. Anybody who signs up for the SF Public Health Department newsletter between now and Dec.20th are eligible to win an iPod Nano or an equivelent iTunes gift certificate.

Project T FAQS.
Become a Project T volunteer.