Out actor Danny Pintauro says he's a
huge supporter of Truvada.
Pintauro, a former child star best
known for playing Jonathan Bower on Who's the Boss, announced
in September that he's been living with HIV for 12 years. He came
out gay in 1997.
In a new interview with Plus,
Pintauro credited his husband Wil Tabares for helping him become the
advocate he said that he wishes he could have become when he first
came out.
That advocacy includes promotion of
pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP – commonly known as Truvada.
When taken regularly, Truvada reduces
the risk of contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from sex.
“I'm a huge supporter of PrEP,” he
said. “If you add PrEP to the equation, we virtually have the
tools to end new infections and that's so exciting. But people
barely know about it. And you have to take it every day for it to
actually work. Also, just because you're on PrEP doesn't mean you
can't use condoms. What about all of the other STIs that are out
there? Some of which are just as difficult to treat and none of
which you want to have. It still requires responsibility and the
misconception is that we've surrounded PrEP with this free-for-all.”
Pintauro added that Truvada's cost,
estimated at $3,000 a month, remains a barrier.