George Kebaso and Wangui Githugo @PeopleDailyKe
The government will roll out a new oral-based HIV prevention pill for Kenyans who are at constant risk of contracting the virus next month as part of ongoing interventions to reduce infection rates.
National Aids and STI Control Programme (Nascop) said yesterday Kenyans who are HIV negative will for the first time in history be placed on antiretroviral medication as it considers rejuvenating multiple approaches towards HIV infection reduction specific for youths in the country.
The new HIV prevention method is over 90 per cent effective. Kenya reported 77,600 new HIV infections in 2015. Out of these, 71,000 were found to be in the adult population and more than half were in adolescents and young people aged 15 to 24 years.
The new HIV intervention measure will involve the use of Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) among people who are HIV negative but who face the risk of contracting the disease.
Through PrEP, antiretroviral medication will be administered to such individuals to reduce their chances of acquiring HIV. Head of Nascop, Dr Martin Sirengo said the risk assessment criteria will be used to determine those who qualify for PrEP.
He explained that the drugs would be prescribed by health caregivers after assessment of risk according to the national guidelines. “The beauty of PrEP is that it is highly effective and will be given to those that are at risk of contracting HIV.
This could include discordant couples where one partner is HIV positive and another is HIV negative; people who frequently contract STIs; individuals who are unable to negotiate condom use; people who frequently use Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and also drug users who share syringes,” he said.
Those who choose to take PrEP should take a pill every day. It takes seven days for it to be effective and users should continue taking PrEP for 28 days following the last exposure.
At the same time, those who are enrolled on PrEP will have to be monitored on a regular basis and take a HIV test every three months. Dr Sirengo said PrEP would be combined with other interventions such as condoms.
“PrEP is as good as it is taken. If taken daily during the period of risk, it is highly effective. We anticipate that PrEP will avert many new infections,” he said.
The difference between PrEP and PEP is that PEP refers to HIV drugs that one takes after they have had an exposure while PrEP refers to HIV drugs that one takes before an exposure to prevent any possible transmission.
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