Scientists have announced the results of research PARTNER2
On the eve, July 24, at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, the results of a number of major studies in the field of HIV treatment and prevention were announced.
Among them - data confirming the effectiveness of the strategy of "treatment as prevention" among men who have sex with men (MSM).
"This is a new era in HIV prevention, and these studies allow us to outline ways to move forward," said Linda-Gale Becker, president of the International AIDS Society and international chairman of AIDS 2018.
"If we ensure progress in prevention, where it is needed most today, we will be able to significantly reduce the number of new infections around the world."
On Tuesday, scientists presented the results of a PARTNER2 study conducted to assess the risk of HIV transmission in unprotected sex in serodiscordant homosexual couples (one partner is HIV-positive, the other is not).
Previous studies, including PARTNER1 and Opposites Attract, did not find any cases of HIV transmission in such pairs, but the level of evidence was lower than for heterosexual couples.
972 serodiscordant gay couples from 14 European countries took part in the PARTNER2 study. All participants reported cases of sexual contact when the HIV-negative partner did not take pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or was not protected while the HIV-positive partner had undetectable viral load.
The results showed that, despite almost 75,000 sexual intercourse without a condom (and PrEP), no cases of HIV transmission were identified.
Alison Roger of University College London reported that this, with a high degree of statistical certainty, gives an accurate measure of "zero" for the transmission of HIV within the serodiscordant couple with a suppressed viral load in the positive partner.
"Our results provide evidence for homosexuals equivalent to what is already available for heterosexual couples and determine the risk of HIV transmission with suppressed viral load as" actual zero. Undetectable = Untransmittable".