The first drug designed to help prevent HIV transmission in people at high risk of infection has been approved for use in the European Union.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved the use of the drug Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, in combination with safer sex practices on Friday.
The London-based agency said PrEP, which is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), helps "people who do not have HIV but who are at high risk of infection with HIV to lower their chances of becoming infected should they be exposed to the virus".
The oral drug should be used in combination with condoms as part of an HIV prevention strategy, the agency said in a statement.
Truvada was previously approved for use in the EU as part of drug cocktails designed to treat people infected with HIV, it added.
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The WHO estimates that some 36.7 million people worldwide were living with HIV at the end of 2015.
