HIV continues to be an overwhelming problem for the gay community and the rest of the world, but researchers at the Center for Disease Prevention have made a possible stride in preventing infection. The test, involving monkeys, continued the trend of using AIDS drugs for prevention.

Dr. Walid Heneine of the Centers for Disease and Prevention studied rhesus monkeys that were injected with a version of Truvada — Gilead Sciences Inc.'s once-a-day pill that includes its drugs Viread, or tenofovir, and Emtriva, or emtracitibine.

The six monkeys that received the drug combination were all completely protected from infection. By comparison, nine monkeys that took part in a previous experiment all eventually became infected with the SHIV virus.

We have our fingers crossed for this one, but we do wonder if a “morning before” pill would really be all that valuable. Still, any progress is good progress, but we gays need to keep an eye on ethical considerations as well.

Drug combination prevents HIV infection in monkeys [Reuters]