Scott Wiener, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, made an unusual public announcement on Wednesday: He takes Truvada, a daily antiviral pill, to greatly reduce his risk of contracting H.I.V. Supervisor Wiener says he's taking HIV-prevention drug 1 / 5 Back to Gallery 
 
 San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener on Wednesday became what appears to be the first public figure in the country to disclose that he's taking a drug that prevents HIV infection - a pill that public health officials said could save lives but has remained largely unused due to stigma and lack of awareness. Truvada, an antiviral drug that has been used to treat HIV infection for more than a decade, is the only pill approved for prevention. "My hope is that talking about it will elevate awareness about PrEP as an available and powerful prevention tool." Taking the pills is a practice known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, and some researchers believe it may reduce the risk of infection by 99 percent if patients take their medication daily as prescribed. The drug primarily has been tested in men who have sex with men, which is why they're the focus of efforts to increase use of PrEP, although it appears to also be effective for women and transgender men and women. Most people report no side effects from the drug, and about 10 percent of users say they have some gastrointestinal discomfort for the first few weeks after starting. "The issues we face are in getting what we know is a very effective HIV-prevention tool into the hands of people who need it," said Dr. Susan Philip, director of the STD Prevention and Control Services Section of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. No study to date has shown that those using PrEP increase risky behavior -- such as reducing condom usage compared with before using PrEP -- and there is evidence to the contrary. After all these years, we still see enormous stigma, shame, and judgment around HIV, and around sexuality in general. That is precisely why I decided to be public about my choice: to contribute to a larger dialogue about our community's health.
– A San Francisco official looks to be the first public figure in the country to "come out of the PrEP closet," as he puts it in a piece for the Huffington Post. Scott Wiener—who represents a district he calls "ground zero for the HIV epidemic"—says he takes the daily antiviral pill Truvada to lower his risk of contracting HIV. He's urging other gay men to do the same. "A much larger segment of gay men should be taking a close look" at what's known as pre-exposure prophylaxis, Wiener tells the New York Times. Truvada as PrEP has been very slow to catch on across the country, which Wiener writes sees 50,000 new HIV infections each year. Researchers say PrEP could reduce the risk of HIV infection by up to 99% if taken as prescribed. The World Health Organization made a similar case to Wiener's this summer, but the San Francisco Chronicle calls Wiener's announcement "significant because so few people have been willing to talk openly about their use of Truvada." Though the drug's list price is just over $1,000 a month, Wiener says PrEP is covered by most health insurers (he personally pays $15 a month). For the uninsured or those with high-deductible plans, however, the price can be a problem. Wiener's colleague, David Campos, says he will ask the city's health department to develop a strategy that "addresses the educational and affordability issues" by December. "We have to start somewhere," says Campos, who adds that every prevented infection saves $355,000 in treatment costs.