Recently there was a lot of hoopla in the media about a “morning-after treatment” against HIV infection. The premise was that if people slipped into a risky event with sex or drugs, they could call their friendly doc and take a round of the remarkable new medications so they wouldn’t actually become infected.
Frankly, hoopla was about all there was to it. Individuals who have had an episode of unsafe sex or drug use should not depend on a “morning-after treatment” to undo the potential consequences.
The New York Times article, reprinted in the Statesman, was clear if read completely through. “No studies support this practice (morning-after treatments), and the medications are not licensed for this purpose,” it noted.
In addition, having to rely on the “morning-after treatment” is a highly undesireable situation because:
* The drugs are toxic compounds with serious side-effects.
* The dose schedules are demanding and disrupting.
* They must be taken for at least a month, not just the “morning after.”
* The drugs are typically $600-1,500 per month. Insurance may not pay for them.
My informal poll found no physicians willing to offer this prescription anyway. (Rape victims may be an exception, even lacking any demonstration of real usefulness.)
The lessened sense of seriousness around HIV/AIDS is already leading people to drop their guard about intimate decisions, and this inappropriate perception about using the new drugs feeds the fire. We must still remember that HIV transmission is completely preventable only one way: safe, responsible choices in our personal behavior.
Sandy Bartlett
Community Information/Education Coordinator, ASA
ASA Info Line: 458-AIDS
This article appears in July 25 • 1997 and July 25 • 1997 (Cover).