The number of new HIV diagnoses among men who have sex with men will decline in 2021. That is evident from new data from the HIV Monitoring Foundation on Wednesday. According to the foundation, this decrease indicates that the PrEP prevention pill is working properly. At the same time, not everyone had access to this resource.
The total number of people learning they have HIV has been declining for years. In 2018, for example, 664 diagnoses were still diagnosed, which dropped to 411 in 2020. In 2021, slightly more people, 427, were diagnosed with HIV.
In 2021, the decrease was mainly seen in the group of men who have sex with men. Just over half (59%) of all HIV diagnoses were diagnosed in this group. It was still 66% in 2018 and 63% in 2020.
According to HIV monitoring, the decrease is likely to be related to the supply of the HIV prevention pill. “Some of the people who in the past would have come to care for an early HIV infection are now adequately protected by PrEP.”
People can take PrEP pills to avoid becoming infected with HIV. Since 2019, the drug has been available through the GGD to a limited group of men through a national trial. Additionally, the pill can also be obtained through your doctor, but it is much more expensive.
Long waiting lists for the PrEP process
Not everyone was able to get the pills during the trial or received them too late. The trial seats a maximum of 8,500 people, but those seats have long been full, says Aidsfonds-Soa AIDS Nederland. There are still 2,500 people on the waiting list.
At least 48 people have contracted HIV even though they wanted to use PrEP, says the HIV Monitoring Foundation. They therefore want PrEP care to become better and more accessible. “That could have prevented some of these new HIV diagnoses.”
Aidsfonds-Soa director Mark Vermeulen helps Nederland calls it “downright shocking.” Both organizations have previously called for more people to have access to PrEP. It is not possible to scale up the process because there is no budget for it, and insufficient staff are available, wrote Minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health) in a statement in early September. Letter to parliament.
Vermeulen: “Even if it is now possible to live well with HIV, people with HIV need to be treated for the rest of their lives. We have the ability to prevent it, but we don’t use it fully.”
