Injectable-PrEP, Another Solution To HIV Prevention – Expert

In further quest to improve on measures to check the trend of HIV/AIDS, science has come up with more drugs to make it easy for people to comply in usage of drugs.
One of such drugs is the “Injectable Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), an addition to the PrEP fold of drugs targeted at key population and people at risk of HIV infection.
Disclosing this in an exclusive interview, the Rivers State Medical Lead, Centre for Population Health Initiatives, Dr Azikpono Ozore, explained that the Injectable PrEP, is a development from the original PrEP, which is a medication to be taken daily by those concerned.
“Initially it started as a medication to be taken everyday, but because research showed that people are complaining about being HIV nagative, yet taking HIV medication daily, they view it as a burden.
“Consequently, science wants to take off that burden of daily medication, and ensure that people are still HIV negative, hence they have introduced the Injectable PrEP”, he said.
Ozore, who spoke on the sidelines of the First Quarter State Prevention Technical Working Group Meeting in Port Harcourt, said Injectable PrEP, “is like injection: you take it once in every two  months. It can prevent HIV in two months before you take the next dose.
“With this development, at least people will want to take the drug more”, he said.
According to Dr Ozore, another development is the “Vagina PrEP Rim”, which is usually inserted in a woman’s vigaina or cervix, and acts as a medication for the person.
He also revealed that scientists are currently carrying out tests on HIV drugs that will enable people take the  drugs weekly, in place of the current ones that are taken daily.
“These kinds of novel advances are coming up so that people can freely take the medication and we can actually prevent the HIV.
“The target for the future is zero new infections, and the only way we can achieve this is when people take the PrEP and use other protective machanisms to ensure that they remain negative”, he said.
Speaking on the sustainability of the injectable, the Rivers State Chairman of the HIV Prevention Technical Working Group, Prof Charles Tobin-West, said it is possible.
This, he explained, is because, like PrEP, the injectable PrEP is only for the key population, comprising the high risk population, and Discordant Couples, not the general population.
“It is proposed for them in order to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, because if we do not do that, this categories of persons will be the focus of the spread to the general population.
“If this is allowed, everything we are doing for HIV control will be destroyed”, he said.
He stated that the meeting was to enable various organisations involved in HIV/AIDS control to give updates on their activities so far, saying that from all presentations made, the gap of reaching zero HIV infection in Rivers State has further narrowed.
PrEP is a drug used by HIV negative perosns who are at risk of contracting the virus. Such persons are regarded as “Key Population”, which comprise those at High Risk (sex workers, men having sex with men, people who inject drugs, etc), and  Discordant Couples: marriages in which one partner is HIV negative, and the other is positive.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo