The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first drug shown to reduce the risk of HIV infection, a milestone in the 30-year battle against the virus that causes AIDS.

The agency approved Gilead Sciences' pill Truvada as a preventive measure for people who are at high risk of acquiring HIV through sexual activity, such as those who have HIV-infected partners.

Public health advocates say the approval could help slow the spread of HIV, which has held steady at about 50,000 new infections per year for the last 15 years. An estimated 1.2 million Americans have HIV, which develops into AIDS unless treated with antiviral drugs. With an estimated 240,000 HIV carriers unaware of their status, doctors and patients say new methods are needed to fight the spread of the virus.

Gilead Sciences Inc. has marketed Truvada since 2004 as a treatment for people who are already infected with the virus.

But starting in 2010, studies showed that the drug could actually prevent people from contracting HIV when used as a precautionary measure. A three-year study found that daily doses cut the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 42 percent, when accompanied by condoms and counseling.

Last year another study found that Truvada reduced infection by 75 percent in heterosexual couples in which one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not.

Because Truvada is on the market to manage HIV, some doctors already prescribe it as a preventive measure. FDA approval will allow Gilead Sciences to formally market the drug for that use, which could dramatically increase prescribing.

Truvada's groundbreaking preventive ability has exposed disagreements about managing the disease among those in the HIV community. Groups including the AIDS Healthcare Foundation asked the FDA to reject the new indication, saying it could give patients a false sense of security and reduce the use of condoms, the most reliable preventive measure against HIV.

But FDA scientists said Monday said there was no indication from clinical trials that Truvada users were more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior.

"What we found was that condom use increased over time and sexually transmitted infections either remained at baseline levels or decreased," said Dr. Debra Birnkrant, FDA's director of antiviral products. "So in essence, we don't have any strong evidence that condoms were not used or there was a decrease in condom use."

Gays may enroll at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) but risk a reprimand from a military school proud of its “macho” tradition if they display effeminate behavior.

PMA officials insist they do not discriminate against gays but they expect them to behave the way cadets should. In any case, they say, gay cadets eventually leave the PMA anyway before completing the four-year course because they cannot stand the rigors of training.

The PMA position appears to be in contrast to the stance taken by US President Barack Obama and the American Congress, which in September last year formally repealed a 17-year-old discriminatory law known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The abolished American law banned openly gay men, lesbians and bisexuals from military service. Obama said the law’s repeal meant that members of the US Armed Forces “will no longer have to lie about who they are in order to serve the country they love.”

No ban

According to the PMA superintendent, Major General Nonato Peralta Jr., the country’s premier military training school does not turn away applicants because they are gay. He said that would be a violation of human rights.

But he admitted that having gays was not yet quite accepted in the PMA.

“We do not prohibit them. As it is in Filipino culture, (gays are) not yet very acceptable outright. So Philippine society is under transition. That is also how it is in the PMA. We cannot say (gays are) prohibited. No, they’re not prohibited,” Peralta stressed to reporters Tuesday during a visit to the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters in Camp Emilio Aguinaldo.

Captain Agnes Flores, PMA spokesperson, said gays were not discriminated against but “once they are admitted to the PMA they are required to behave the way the cadets are supposed to behave.”

“So anyone who displays gay behavior would be reprimanded because that’s not what is expected of them. They enter our institution and they are to follow the rules and regulations of our organization,” she stressed.

Flores claimed that school officials had observed that gay cadets apparently could not cope with the demands of training.

“They last as long as they can stand the training (until) they themselves say they cannot take it anymore and they leave the Academy,” she said.

High survival rate

On the other hand, women cadets have a “high survival rate” and make it through graduation,  Flores said.

“They (the gays) left because they cannot cope with the training. It’s not because they are discriminated against but because of the requirements in training,” she said.

Flores admitted there were some gays among PMA graduates but she said these military officers did not show gay behavior while in the Academy.

“From experience, there are (gay PMA graduates). Maybe he was able to graduate because during the training in the Academy there was no opportunity for his (gay) tendencies (to show). When he left the academy that’s when it came out,” Flores said.

She pointed out that PMA gay graduates were not known to have abused their position as military officers.

Annual exams

The PMA will hold its annual entrance exams this year on August 26 in 37 testing centers nationwide. The incoming batch will compose the PMA Class 2017.

For the first time, the PMA has lowered the height requirement for both male and female applicants to 5 feet. Previously, the height requirement was 5’4” for male applicants and 5’2” for female applicants.

The other requirements are: one should be a natural-born Filipino citizen, physically fit and of good moral character, single and has never been married, at least a graduate of high school, without administrative or criminal cases and should have been born between April 1, 1991 and  April 1, 1996.

The PMA has lifted the required minimum average grade of 85 for high school graduates who wish to enter the PMA.

Submission of applications is until August 15.

Applicants may also apply online at www.pma.ph until the week before the August 26 exams.

Starting this month, members of Pag-IBIG or Home Development Mutual Fund can borrow as much as P6 million, double the previous loanable amount.

Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Darlene Marie B. Berberabe said last Friday the new loan policy was approved just last week, although Vice President and concurrent Pag-IBIG Chairman Jejomar C. Binay had revealed such development as early as March.

Pag-IBIG raised the maximum amount to P3 million from P2 million in 2009 amid rising demand for loans both from middle-income earners and real estate developers.

The Vice President said the new policies were drafted in the hope that more members would get a chance to realize their dream of owning a house.

Pag-IBIG has over 10.2 million members who are mostly middle-income workers. Of that total, 1.5 million are Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Last year, Pag-IBIG posted a gross income of P24.8 billion in 2011, its biggest in 31 years according to Berberabe.

Aside from the usual housing loans, Pag-IBIG members can also avail of short-term multipurpose loan for education, livelihood, home improvement and health and wellness.

Berberabe calls the multipurpose financing an “anti-depression loan” because a member can use it to go on vacation, join a gym, or shop as a way of relieving stress from work.

Inquiries about the “anti-depression loan” have flooded the agency’s Facebook page from members who are curious on how they could avail of the service.

Berberabe said this is part of efforts to make Pag-IBIG loans more specific to encourage more members to avail of the fund’s services.

“Perhaps by taking a vacation, our members could improve their outlook in life and become more productive workers,” she said.

Members who have contributed with Pag-IBIG for more than 10 years can avail of a loan which is 80 percent of their total contribution; 70 percent for members from five to 10 years; and 60 percent for those who have contributed in less than five years. This comes with an interest rate of 10.75 percent a year.

Avail of the loan, now na! :)

tight hugs,
AC