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‘Prevention pill works’, less HIV in men who have sex with men

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

The number of new HIV diagnoses decreased in 2021, as in previous years. Last year, there was a particularly steep decline in recent HIV infections among men who have sex with men. This decrease is likely due to the HIV prevention pill (PrEP), says the HIV Monitoring Foundation.

The total number of HIV diagnoses last year was estimated at 427. A total of 250 men who have sex with men (MSM) were diagnosed (59%). It also involved 105 other men (25%) and 72 women (17%). In 2021, 13 people will have died from the effects of AIDS, the disease caused by HIV. This is because a diagnosis is not always forwarded to the foundation immediately.

In 2018, the diagnosis was still diagnosed 664 times. Since 2019, the drug has been available through the GGD through a national trial for a limited group of men. PrEP is also available through your GP, but is much more expensive.

“It is plausible that the decrease in the proportion of MSM with recent HIV infection is related to the provision of the HIV prevention pill, PrEP,” says Professor Marc van der Valk of Stichting HIV Monitoring in a press release. He says some of the people who in the past would have been hospitalized with early HIV infection are now protected by PrEP. “If this trend continues in the coming years, the Netherlands could become one of the first countries in the world with zero new HIV infections.”

According to the foundation, not everyone who wants to can start PrEP just yet. Of the people who contracted HIV between 2018 and May this year, 660 had not used PrEP. Of these people, 44 indicated that they would like to use the substance, but did not have access to it. Four people were on the waiting list.

The actual number of people who contracted HIV while wanting to use the preventative pill may be higher, Van der Valk says. This is because not everyone diagnosed with HIV has information about the use of PrEP.

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