A study, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reveals that a daily antiretroviral pill can prevent HIV among drug addicts.

The researchers found that drug addicts who took the pill on a daily basis were approximately 50 percent less likely to become infected with HIV than those who took a placebo pill.

The study involved 2,413 volunteers between the ages of 20 and 60 who were HIV-negative and admitted to injecting drugs within the previous 12 months. The volunteers came from 17 drug-treatment clinics in Bangkok.

Dr. Salim S. Abdool, a South African AIDS researcher who penned a commentary in The Lancet, noted that the study’s findings add to growing evidence that the drugs utilized to treat HIV are also very good at preventing it.

According to MedPage Today, prior research has revealed that tenofovir PrEP can lower the risk of infection in several groups of people, including men who have sex with men and heterosexual couples where only one partner is HIV-positive.

The New York Times points out that the study’s findings could have a significant impact in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the newspaper notes that drug addicts are responsible for as much as 80 percent of HIV infections. Though injection drug users account for an extremely high percentage of HIV infections in these regions of the world, injection drug users account for approximately 1 in 13 new HIV infections in the U.S.

The AP also reports that study’s findings convinced U.S. health officials to recommend to doctors that they should think about providing a daily antiretroviral pill to people who inject themselves with drugs to prevent infection.

According to the CDC, HIV is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, otherwise known as AIDS. The CDC also notes that the human body is unable to rid itself of HIV. In other words, once you become infected with HIV, it stays with you for the rest of your life.

Approximately 50,000 people get infected with the virus annually in the U.S. In 2010, for example, there were about 47,500 new HIV infections. Also in 2010, approximately 15,500 people with AIDS died. For certain populations, the CDC adds, HIV is a major cause of death.

The study’s findings are described in additional detail in the journal The Lancet.