Preventing AIDS, what is PrEP?

EDITORIAL GAYLES.TV.- Lately a lot of information circulates and not always valid, about the different forms of prophylaxis and possible cure of the AIDS. Since we do not all have the level of medical or scientific training to risk data that are not solid, we have to limit ourselves to transmitting what the most informed professionals bring to us.

On this occasion we have received information from BCN Checkpoint which, as some of you already know, is a community center that works for the detection of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in gays, men who have sex with men and transgender women. In the 15A European AIDS Conference BCN Checkpoint has presented a study based on the statistical data of almost 10.000 users that tries to identify the suitable profile of the potential candidates to access the PrEP in order to guarantee in the future the balance between cost and effectiveness.

But to begin with we should know what PrEP is. These acronyms correspond to the expression "Pre-exposure prophylaxis" in relation to HIV and refers to the treatment that could be received by people who do not have AIDS but who have a high risk of contracting it, whether due to sexual practices or the use of injectable drugs. The treatment consists of taking a pill every day composed of two medications (tenofovir and emtricitabine) which are marketed under the name of Truvada. European authorities have not yet followed the recommendation of international health agencies to implement the use of this retroviral as is already being done in the United States.

To date, in all the studies carried out it has been shown that the risk of transmission of AIDS fell considerably in the participants who took the pill constantly, in particular it was reduced by an 92%. And as for the possible side effects, some of the participants in the studies showed certain stomach discomfort and loss of appetite, but the symptoms subsided in the first month.

It is foreseeable that in the near future its consumption will be approved and hence the importance of a work that will be of great help to establish the profile of the people who must be prioritized when supplying this new preventive tool, depending on the risk of contracting HIV in a globally highly exposed group such as men who have sex with men (MSM). The study author Michael Meulbroek, concludes that«The highest incidence rates (ranging between 8,4 and 24,7 per 100 people / year) have been among MSM who do not always use a condom, have been diagnosed with an STI (sexually transmitted disease) and have had more than 10 sexual partners in the last 6 months, regardless of their sexual role ». Meulbroek recalls that in the guidelines that he has recently published, WHO considers that PrEP would already be cost-effective, with an incidence of more than 3 per cent, ie that the costs derived from its implementation are lower than the benefits it entails in avoiding the contagion.

A new breakthrough in what we can already consider a well-founded hope, the total eradication of AIDS in a relatively short period of time.

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