Cuba starts supplying HIV preventive pills

In the municipality of Cárdenas, in Matanzas, the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (known as Prep), a pill that helps prevent HIV in people who do not have the virus, began as an experience in Cuba.

According to expert opinion, the drug is capable of reducing the risk of infection by more than 90% in people exposed to infection and who invariably take the drug every day.

Niura Pérez Castro, head of the municipal prevention program for STIs/HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, explained that the tablet is given free of charge to people with risky behavior and, therefore, a high possibility of contracting the disease.

This is a joint project with the Pan American Health Organization, which in Cuba has been complementing efforts for years to prevent this infection. We consider it as a combined therapy with the essential objective of changing risk behaviors, said Pérez Castro.

He insisted that although specialists highly value the effectiveness of the drug, the correct use of condoms is recommended as the safest method to avoid contagion and the risk of contracting other sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis, gonorrhea or genital herpes.

This pilot plan in Cárdenas began last March 6, and to date the consumption of the tablet has been approved for a total of 28 people, as it meets the requirements of the project.

He explained that interested seronegative people should go to the Center for Prevention and Control of STIs/HIV/AIDS in the municipality of Cardenas, where they are attended by a multidisciplinary team that decides to whom the drug should be given.

In Cárdenas, a territory with an accelerated population growth, a total of 234 people are currently living with HIV, and each year some 30 new cases are registered. Together with the municipality of the provincial capital, it accounts for 60% of AIDS cases in Matanzas.

Written by Radio Grito de Baire