A study shows that the immediate offer of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is feasible in Brazil, with a low loss of early follow-up. The findings, released on Dec. 21, The Lancet of HIVone of the most respected scientific journals in the world, show that PrEP adherence and long-term service retention were good.
PrEP is an anti-HIV drug, taken on a schedule to prevent HIV infection if exposed. The research was conducted by the ImPrEP study group in Brazil, Mexico and Peru, from 2018 to 2021, and its main objective was to evaluate the feasibility of providing daily oral PrEP in these three countries, serving as a mirror for similar initiatives in Latin America .
In all, 9,509 people participated, 3,928 in Brazil, 3,288 in Mexico and 2,293 in Peru. The majority, 94.3%, gay, bisexual, and other cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM). The remaining 5.7% are transvestites and trans women, populations most affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic in Latin America, most of them between the ages of 18 and 30.
Results show that PrEP adherence and long-term service maintenance were good, worse among the youngest and most vulnerable; and HIV incidence was very low, being highest in the most vulnerable populations with low PrEP adherence.
According to the study, PrEP has proven to be an important prevention technology, especially among populations such as MSM, transvestites and transgender women in Latin America. The research emphasizes that the social and structural determinants of HIV risk must be addressed to fully realize the benefits of prophylaxis.
The initial phase of ImPrEP, linked to the provision of daily oral PrEP, was an initiative of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in collaboration with the Department of Chronic Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections, of the Ministry of Health of Brazil, the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia, from Peru, Clínica Condesa and the National Institute of Public Health, both from Mexico.
