For HIV prevention, pre-exposure prophylaxis remains " little known and unevenly accessible", lamented the National Council on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis (CNS), which calls on public authorities to expand opportunities to offer PrEP to all“.
What is PrEP?
Preventive treatments PrEPPrescription drugs, intended for people who do not have HIV (HIV-negative), have become crucial in the fight against the AIDS epidemic because they are very effective at preventing infection. The person using them takes antiretroviral drugs to prevent HIV transmission during unprotected sex.
While PrEP has been available in France since 2016, fully covered by health insurance, its use " remains insufficient", notes the CNS in a press release, on the first day of National Sexual Health Week.
Lack of awareness and biased perceptions
Thus, nearly half of men who have sex with men (MSM) for whom it would be indicated do not use it, especially the youngest, and other highly exposed populations (migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, migrant MSM, sex workers, trans people, those in precarious situations or far from major urban centers) are unaware of it or use it very little.
Judging that this option " It is still too often perceived in a restrictive and negative way, as a tool primarily 'intended for gay people' and reserved for highly exposed individuals who 'fail' to use other means of prevention.", the CNS calls for changing perceptions of PrEP through the mobilization of all healthcare professionals and inclusive and positive communication", also aimed at the general public.
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The arrival of long-acting injectable PrEP
This is all the more necessary, according to this independent body tasked since 1989 with advising public authorities, with the arrival of long-acting injectable PrEP, which are " likely to remove some of the obstacles specific to oral PrEP", more restrictive, and have an apparent effectiveness" particularly high in women“.
Such treatment, the cabotegravir (marketed under the name Apretude by ViiV Healthcare, a subsidiary of the British group GSK), considered a major breakthrough by associations and specialists who had been waiting for it for almost two years, has been available in France since the end of February.
The CNS also calls on public authorities, particularly before the next roadmap on the national sexual health strategy, to to guarantee real and equitable access to PrEP", which This implies reaching out to all people who could benefit from it.", and to make it a front-line tool in the prevention arsenal.
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