A study that evaluates the adoption of Pre-Exposition Prophylaxis (Prep ) injectable to avoid contamination by HIV He indicated that people have adhered better to this form of prevention than those who used the Oral PREP, currently available in the Unified Health System (SUS).
The results of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation Research (Fiocruz), were presented a few days ago at the conference on retroviruses and opportunistic infections held in the United States. Between October 2023 and September 2024, the researchers followed about 1,400 people who received the medication in public health units from six Brazilian cities: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Salvador, Campinas, Florianópolis and Manaus.
Researchers evaluate that PREP Injectable is a tool with potential to face the challenges of adherence to daily oral medication particularly among the younger people, and can help Brazil curb the increase in cases of HIV and the disproportionate load of infections between young people of sexual and gender minorities.
The use of the injectable PREP in Brazil, with the drug Cabotegravir, was approved in 2023 by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), and the incorporation in SUS is under evaluation by the Ministry of Health.
Methodology
People were selected from 18 to 30 who are men who have sex with men, transgender or non-binary. Study participants had never used PREP and sought these health services in search of the medicine or to do the HIV detection test.
Everyone was able to choose how they would use PREP, and 83% preferred the injectable version, which consists of the application every two months of the Cabotegravir medicine. The 17% of participants who preferred to use Oral PREP should take daily the antiretrovirals Tenofovir and Entricitabine, in the form of a combined tablet. This is the traditional prophylaxis distributed by SUS since 2017.
Participants’ follow -up showed that 94% of people who opted for the injectable prep attended the health service to take the injections at the right time, which ensured that the vast majority remained protected against infection for almost all the time of study. None of these patients tested positive for HIV.
People who preferred to use the Oral PREP were protected for only 58% of the days of follow -up due to lower treatment adherence, with oral medication for daily use. Among the people of this second group, one tested positive for HIV.
The researchers also made a comparison with data of about 2,400 people from 14 cities, which use the PREP Oral by SUS, and identified that the coverage was even lower: 48%. In this group, nine people were infected with the virus.
The Ministry of Health reported in a statement that it accompanies the study, but did not say if there is any prediction of inclusion of the strategy in SUS. According to the portfolio, the prep – even in its oral form, as available today – is “essential strategy in preventing HIV infection” and “one of the main initiatives for the elimination of the disease as a public health problem by 2030.” The ministry also informed that Brazil doubled the number of users in three years, reaching the mark of 119 thousand users in 2025.
The last epidemiological bulletin published late last year points out that by 2023, 46,495 cases of HIV infection in the country were reported, about 2,000 more than in 2022. More than 40% occurred in men aged 20 to 29 years. Nevertheless, thanks to advances in treatment between 2013 and 2023, AIDS mortality fell 32.9% in the country.
See also: Anvisa approves injectable drugs for HIV prevention in Brazil
This content was originally published in HIV: Study points out that prep injectable has more adhesion than oral medication on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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