Chicago, Illinois — March 19, 2013 — Positively Aware magazine's 17th Annual HIV Drug Guide is now available, in print and online. Widely recognized throughout the country as the "must-have" reference tool for HIV service providers and consumers alike, the Positively Aware HIV Drug Guide provides important information to individuals living with HIV as well as their caregivers on how to best manage their treatment.
This 76-page issue of Positively Aware devotes a full page to each approved HIV medication, where readers will also find detailed information on side effects, drug interactions, and current trends in HIV care and treatment. In addition to the 31 medications now approved for use in HIV, four investigational drugs are also included in the Drug Guide. The pullout HIV Drug Chart, sponsored by Walgreens, includes dosing information on all of the drugs, as well as food and liquid requirements, alongside a photo, which can be used to help quickly and easily identify each medication.
Approximately 25% of people living with HIV are also co-infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). For the first time the drug guide includes a section on hepatitis B and C, including a look at the current standard of care, as well as drugs in the pipeline. This year's HIV Drug Guide has an updated and expanded section on pharmaceutical co-pay and patient assistance programs, with an easy to read chart, which includes for the first time information on how to help pay for not only HIV drugs, but those used to treat hepatitis B/C, and other drugs commonly used by people with HIV.
One of the most popular features of the Positively Aware HIV Drug Guide, year after year, is the viewpoint given on each medication from a physician and an activist. Contributors to this year's Drug Guide include Howard Grossman, MD, Associate Attending Physician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons; longtime HIV/AIDS activist and international consultant Matt Sharp of San Francisco; Renata Smith, PharmD, Clinical Assistant Professor in HIV/Infectious Diseases at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Associate Editor Enid Vázquez.
"Just as the needs of the people who we see walking through our doors for services has changed as the epidemic has shifted over the years, the Drug Guide continues to evolve along with it," says Jeff Berry, Editor of Positively Aware. "We are continually looking for ways to make this vital, life-saving information more accessible and available to the people who need it most, and this year's Drug Guide brings us one step closer to that vision."
Positively Aware is an internationally known and respected magazine devoted to HIV treatment and health. It has a circulation of over 100,000, and is published bi-monthly by Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN). Founded in 1987, TPAN is Chicago's oldest peer-led AIDS service organization and specializes in treatment information, support services, and prevention.
To order copies of the magazine, call (773) 989-9400 or distribution@tpan.com . For more information about TPAN and Positively Aware magazine visit www.tpan.com and www.positivelyaware.com .
