HIV Prevention Drug Should Be Free and Accessible To Anyone, Study Suggests
Single pills (brand name Truvada) containing two antiretroviral drugs, emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxyl fumarate.
Ideally, pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP should be free and accessible to any individual who needs and wants it.
Reports indicate that it is simple and effortless for most individuals to manage this drug. More so, anyone taking it just needs to remember taking one pill each day to lower his risk by 99 percent, "of getting human immunodeficiency virus or HIV through sex," as well as the transmission risk of drug injection will drop by at least 74 percent.
Fortunately, the post-driven healthcare system of the country, as well as the allegedly universal aversion to providing poor people with anything, the Positive Women's Network said, HIV infection and poverty are both said to be closely connected in the United States, with the latter putting an individual at higher risk for transmission and vice versa-the only treatment available is a pair of the so-called "brand-name drugs" also known as "Truvada and Descovy.'
The said drugs were sold by leading pharmaceutical firms, Gilead Sciences that can cost $2,000 or more each month, from the patient's pocket if he does not have insurance to cover it.
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PrEP Users
Also according to reports, white men "make up the majority of users of PrEP" in the country. This is despite the disparate risk of infection among Latin Americans and Black Americans and the substantial yet "under-discussed" transmission rates among women-- specifically black and transgender women, as well as the women sex workers.
It may still remain unknown precisely what that so-called "ideal world" where PrEP is commonly accessible would appear like. New research proposes that people residing in that ideal world would perhaps, "fee a lot more intervention" over their lives, obtaining a brand-new "sense of control" over both their substance use and sex lives.
An Amsterdam-based PrEP or AmPrEP demonstration project which was tracked over 300 participants who were taking the HIV-prevention routine from one to three years discovered that use of "problematic" drug and feeling of what the NAM Aidsmap called the "sexual compulsivity," declined considerably during that period.
While the study of AmPrEP did not find any decline in anxiety and depression among the participating individuals, according to a PinkNews report, there is an "ever-rising body of research" linking PrEP to boost mental health.
Having gathered all of these, many observers claim, it is quite "egregious that" no meaningful action is being taken to make the drug more accessible to any individual who needs and wants it.
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What is PrEP and Who Should Take It?
PrEP is a way for individuals who do not have HIV but are most likely to get the disease, to prevent infection by taking one pill each day.
As earlier mentioned, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the pill labeled as "Truvada," comprises two medicines also known as "tenofovir" and "emtricitabine" that are both used to combine with other drugs for HIV treatment.
When an individual gets exposed to HIV either through sex or the use of injectable drugs, these medicines can function to keep the infection from developing a long-term and permanent infection.
PrEP, when taken every day, is highly effective for HIV prevention. Studies have found, PrEP lowers the risk of acquiring HIV through sex by roughly 99 percent "when taken daily."
Among those who use injectable drugs, PrEP lowers the danger of obtaining HIV by at least 74 percent if they take it every day. Consequently, the drug is much less efficient when not taken regularly.
Finally, it is important to know that PrEP only shields against HIV, and thus, condoms become essential to protect one against other sexually-transmitted diseases. Furthermore, condoms are a vital prevention strategy, too, for individuals who don't take the PrPE consistently.
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Aug 31, 2020 07:00 AM EDT
