Gates Foundation announces HIV grants

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a three-year, $6.5 million grant to Family Health International to fund a clinical trial to evaluate whether the anti-HIV drug Viread is effective at reducing the risk of HIV infection among sexually active adults regularly exposed to the virus. The drug had been shown to boost immune response and to lower viral levels in the blood of HIV-positive people resistant to other anti-HIV medications. The new study will evaluate whether a once-daily dose of Viread can reduce the risk of HIV infection among HIV-negative adults in developing nations with high HIV infection rates. The foundation also awarded a $3 million grant to the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to help develop community-based tuberculosis prevention strategies in areas of high HIV prevalence.