More members of the military should be taking medication to prevent from getting HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS if left untreated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The number of troops in the military taking the drug, known as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, has surged to 2,000 as of last year, but the agency estimates that based on sexual behavior and other risk factors, 10,000 more should be taking it.
The number of troops in the military who take the medication, often referred to by its brand name, Truvada, began surging after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2011. The policy, created under former President Bill Clinton, blocked gays, lesbians, and bisexual people from openly serving in the military.
The rule was appealed in 2014, and then, a surge of prescriptions for PrEP were written for members of the military in 2015, CDC data show. Despite the increase in prescriptions, CDC officials caution that the numbers should be even higher, considering the number of people at risk for becoming infected.
The CDC revealed that 350 people in the military become HIV-positive every year, and most are infected while they are in the U.S.
In the military, the virus is more common among black men and among men who have sex with men. While anyone can become infected with HIV by having sex with someone who is infected or by sharing a needle or blood transfusion from someone who is HIV-positive, certain groups have a higher rate of incidence than others. Men in the military are disproportionately affected because they make up 85 percent of service members.
Truvada is 90 percent effective in protecting against HIV when it is taken properly, and it costs the military $12,000 a year per each person who takes it. If the number of prescriptions were to rise to the amount the CDC is recommending, then the drug costs to the government would total $140 million a year.
That amount is lower than paying for more incidences of HIV infection. The typical treatment, through regularly taking antiretroviral medications, can cost $450,000 per person over the course of a lifetime. These medications are considered by the medical community to be a landmark public health victory because they have reversed the prognosis for HIV, a diagnosis that was once considered a “death sentence.”
People who take the drugs can live with HIV in a similar way as they would with other treated chronic illnesses, such as diabetes. Antiretrovirals suppress HIV and stop the progression to AIDS, a disease that weakens the immune system and that had reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. in the 1980s, and still continues in high rates because it is left untreated around the world.
Correction: This article has been updated to accurately show the cost of HIV treatment during a person’s lifetime.
