Michael T. LeVasseur, PhD, and Neal D. Goldstein, PhD, from Drexel's Dornsife School of Public Health, used a 10,000 person model of high-HIV-risk men who have sex with men (a term used for anyone who engages in same-sex intercourse, regardless of sexual orientation) to determine that prevention level. If it were achieved in the real world, it would more than surpass the United States' National HIV/AIDS Strategy goal, which is to reduce new infections by 25 percent by 2020.

Their study specifically looked at how the use of a daily preventive drug, collectively called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) but sold under the brand-name Truvada, would affect HIV transmission rates. And they found that if any segment of the high-risk population used it, there would be an increase in prevention.

"We know that PrEP is highly effective at preventing HIV infection, what we don't know is how much of an impact it will have at the population level considering the numerous behavioral strategies that men use to prevent infection," LeVasseur said. "This study attempts to answer this question and future work with this model will attempt to identify specific strategies that will work best to stop the transmission of HIV." Read more via Science Daily