Long-Acting Injectable ART: Benefits & Misconceptions

Joseph Eron, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Carolina at Chapel Hill, discusses benefits of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy as well as misconceptions.

Interview Transcript (modified slightly for readability):

“I think stigma is still a big issue in HIV—it is less of one though. Having to have pills around, having to carry pills when you travel with the possibility that someone might open up your suitcase or your travel bag, going over to a friend’s house or going on vacation with a group for a week—you’ve got to bring that medicine with you. And so, that’s another place where long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy might be helpful.

One misperception is the thought that if you go on long-acting, you have to be on it forever—you don’t. You can imagine situations where pills were good maybe to start therapy, to get the viral load suppressed, and then, if you’re young and traveling or you have a job where you travel all over the country, you might want to be on the injectable. If your life changes again, you might choose to go back to pills; that’s all possible. It’s not as if you’re committed to 1 form or another.”