The office of the governor announced that New York was capable of putting an end to the widespread AIDS symptoms by the next year end. Andrew Cuomo, the governor announced that the new HIV analysis shows a figure of 2,481 for the year of 2018. This figure stands to be the lowest ever seen up until now.
The initiative that had been launched by Cuomo in 2014, is now successful. This initiative was focused on getting the proper care and treatments for undiagnosed patients. It also refers to the program for containment of the virus. The office said that in 2018, almost 32,000 people were asked to take the drug PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, which reduced the sexual transmission of the drug by 99%. This figure saw a 32% increase from that of the previous year. The state had invested approximately $20 million every year since the inception of the program. From 2020, health insurers all across the country have been asked to completely cover PrEP without any co-pay.
The FDA approved Descovy this Thursday. This drug is said to be the second HIV prevention drug that has received FDA approval. This drug is a pre-exposure prophylaxis that prevents the spread of HIV in transgender women and men. It has not been approved for vaginal sex as the effectiveness of it is yet to be tested.
Previously, Descovy had been approved in 2016, only if it was consumed along with antiretroviral medicines. President Trump announced an initiative that would span over 10 years, aiming to reduce the diagnosis rate of HIV by 90%. There are almost a million people in US alone, suffering from HIV. The current statistics show that out of every 7 people, one person remains undiagnosed. There have been results that show that the virus spreads easily in men who have sex with other men. Most of the recent cases have been mostly from the southern region.
