Truvada

Over winter break, I went to Thailand to participate in a global health seminar. We learned that HIV infection was an increasing public health concern due to the country's growing sex industry. This was not very surprising, but what did surprise me was the prevalence of HIV infection among drug addicts. We began to research other disparities in those infected with HIV. Although the population  most at risk of being infected with HIV are homosexual men, there are several other populations that have a prevalence of HIV infection. Intravenous drug users, sex workers, and prisoners are also at risk of contracting an HIV infection.

We've talked about how we create categories and references to help us comprehend our reality. The possible issue I see with this it that we sometimes draw broad categories that can reduce the complexity of our reality. The drug that I have selected in our hybrid study is a protease inhibitor marketed under Truvada. It is used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) for the HIV-1 virus. While researching marketing ads for Truvada and those promoting PreP, I noticed a resounding theme in the target audience for these ads. The majority of these ads were targeted towards gay men. I mentioned earlier that categories can some times reduce the complexity of our reality. I also mentioned earlier that I was surprised to find out that HIV infection was prevalent among intravenous drug users during my global health seminar. Why is it that Truvada does not use advertising campaigns targeted towards drug addicts or the other populations also at risk? Part of that decision was likely motivated to maximize sales profit, but the way in which the drug is marketed digs into the social realm of the disease and medicine. I believe these ads and these categories of disparities serve as a reference to the disease which subsequently leads to a conclusion about the disease that is not incorrect, but not  necessarily fully accurate. In a very broad sense, these ads promote an episteme identity of the disease which associates it with homosexuality. Regarding these ads and the market for Truvada, this episteme identify is reinforced by economic interests.